Public Act 0361 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB0497 Enrolled LRB096 03560 DRJ 17901 b

Public Act 096-0361

AN ACT concerning health.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse and Dependency Act is amended by adding Section 5-23 as follows:

(20 ILCS 301/5-23 new)

Sec. 5-23. Drug Overdose Prevention Program.

(a) Reports of drug overdose.

(1) The Director of the Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse may publish annually a report on drug overdose trends statewide that reviews State death rates from available data to ascertain changes in the causes or rates of fatal and nonfatal drug overdose for the preceding period of not less than 5 years. The report shall also provide information on interventions that would be effective in reducing the rate of fatal or nonfatal drug overdose.

(2) The report may include:

(A) Trends in drug overdose death rates.

(B) Trends in emergency room utilization related to drug overdose and the cost impact of emergency room utilization.

(C) Trends in utilization of pre-hospital and emergency services and the cost impact of emergency services utilization.

(D) Suggested improvements in data collection.

(E) A description of other interventions effective in reducing the rate of fatal or nonfatal drug overdose.

(b) Programs; drug overdose prevention.

(1) The Director may establish a program to provide for the production and publication, in electronic and other formats, of drug overdose prevention, recognition, and response literature. The Director may develop and disseminate curricula for use by professionals, organizations, individuals, or committees interested in the prevention of fatal and nonfatal drug overdose, including, but not limited to, drug users, jail and prison personnel, jail and prison inmates, drug treatment professionals, emergency medical personnel, hospital staff, families and associates of drug users, peace officers, firefighters, public safety officers, needle exchange program staff, and other persons. In addition to information regarding drug overdose prevention, recognition, and response, literature produced by the Department shall stress that drug use remains illegal and highly dangerous and that complete abstinence from illegal drug use is the healthiest choice. The literature shall provide information and resources for substance abuse treatment.

The Director may establish or authorize programs for prescribing, dispensing, or distributing naloxone hydrochloride or any other similarly acting and equally safe drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of drug overdose. Such programs may include the prescribing of naloxone hydrochloride or any other similarly acting and equally safe drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of drug overdose to and education about administration by individuals who are not personally at risk of opioid overdose.

(2) The Director may provide advice to State and local officials on the growing drug overdose crisis, including the prevalence of drug overdose incidents, trends in drug overdose incidents, and solutions to the drug overdose crisis.

(c) Grants.

(1) The Director may award grants, in accordance with this subsection, to create or support local drug overdose prevention, recognition, and response projects. Local health departments, correctional institutions, hospitals, universities, community-based organizations, and faith-based organizations may apply to the Department for a grant under this subsection at the time and in the manner the Director prescribes.

(2) In awarding grants, the Director shall consider the necessity for overdose prevention projects in various settings and shall encourage all grant applicants to develop interventions that will be effective and viable in their local areas.

(3) The Director shall give preference for grants to proposals that, in addition to providing life-saving interventions and responses, provide information to drug users on how to access drug treatment or other strategies for abstaining from illegal drugs. The Director shall give preference to proposals that include one or more of the following elements:

(A) Policies and projects to encourage persons, including drug users, to call 911 when they witness a potentially fatal drug overdose.

(B) Drug overdose prevention, recognition, and response education projects in drug treatment centers, outreach programs, and other organizations that work with, or have access to, drug users and their families and communities.

(C) Drug overdose recognition and response training, including rescue breathing, in drug treatment centers and for other organizations that work with, or have access to, drug users and their families and communities.

(D) The production and distribution of targeted or mass media materials on drug overdose prevention and response.

(E) Prescription and distribution of naloxone hydrochloride or any other similarly acting and equally safe drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of drug overdose.

(F) The institution of education and training projects on drug overdose response and treatment for emergency services and law enforcement personnel.

(G) A system of parent, family, and survivor education and mutual support groups.

(4) In addition to moneys appropriated by the General Assembly, the Director may seek grants from private foundations, the federal government, and other sources to fund the grants under this Section and to fund an evaluation of the programs supported by the grants.

(d) Health care professional prescription of drug overdose treatment medication.

(1) A health care professional who, acting in good faith, directly or by standing order, prescribes or dispenses an opioid antidote to a patient who, in the judgment of the health care professional, is capable of administering the drug in an emergency, shall not, as a result of his or her acts or omissions, be subject to disciplinary or other adverse action under the Medical Practice Act of 1987, the Physician Assistant Practice Act of 1987, the Nurse Practice Act, the Pharmacy Practice Act, or any other professional licensing statute.

(2) A person who is not otherwise licensed to administer an opioid antidote may in an emergency administer without fee an opioid antidote if the person has received the patient information specified in paragraph (4) of this subsection and believes in good faith that another person is experiencing a drug overdose. The person shall not, as a result of his or her acts or omissions, be liable for any violation of the Medical Practice Act of 1987, the Physician Assistant Practice Act of 1987, the Nurse Practice Act, the Pharmacy Practice Act, or any other professional licensing statute, or subject to any criminal prosecution arising from or related to the unauthorized practice of medicine or the possession of an opioid antidote.

(3) A health care professional prescribing an opioid antidote to a patient shall ensure that the patient receives the patient information specified in paragraph (4) of this subsection. Patient information may be provided by the health care professional or a community-based organization, substance abuse program, or other organization with which the health care professional establishes a written agreement that includes a description of how the organization will provide patient information, how employees or volunteers providing information will be trained, and standards for documenting the provision of patient information to patients. Provision of patient information shall be documented in the patient's medical record or through similar means as determined by agreement between the health care professional and the organization. The Director of the Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, in consultation with statewide organizations representing physicians, advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, substance abuse programs, and other interested groups, shall develop and disseminate to health care professionals, community-based organizations, substance abuse programs, and other organizations training materials in video, electronic, or other formats to facilitate the provision of such patient information.

(4) For the purposes of this subsection:

"Opioid antidote" means naloxone hydrochloride or any other similarly acting and equally safe drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of drug overdose.

"Health care professional" means a physician licensed to practice medicine in all its branches, a physician assistant who has been delegated the prescription or dispensation of an opioid antidote by his or her supervising physician, an advanced practice registered nurse who has a written collaborative agreement with a collaborating physician that authorizes the prescription or dispensation of an opioid antidote, or an advanced practice nurse who practices in a hospital or ambulatory surgical treatment center and possesses appropriate clinical privileges in accordance with the Nurse Practice Act.

"Patient" includes a person who is not at risk of opioid overdose but who, in the judgment of the physician, may be in a position to assist another individual during an overdose and who has received patient information as required in paragraph (2) of this subsection on the indications for and administration of an opioid antidote.

"Patient information" includes information provided to the patient on drug overdose prevention and recognition; how to perform rescue breathing and resuscitation; opioid antidote dosage and administration; the importance of calling 911; care for the overdose victim after administration of the overdose antidote; and other issues as necessary.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January 1, 2010.