HR0981 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0981 LRB102 29409 MST 41402 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Public Health's May 2022 report recorded 3,013 fatalities that occurred in 2021 due to opioid overdoses; and

WHEREAS, The 3,013 Illinois opioid overdose deaths represent a 2.3% increase from 2020 and a 35.8% spike from 2019; and

WHEREAS, In 2021, toxicology testing found that 2,672 (89%) of the opioid fatalities involved a synthetic opioid, such as fentanyl; and

WHEREAS, A 4 mg naloxone hydrochloride nasal spray has been the principal tool used by bystanders and emergency medical services (EMS) to revive an individual from an overdose episode; and

WHEREAS, A study, published in the Harm Reduction Journal in May 2022, surveyed 125 adult U.S. residents who had been administered 4 mg Naloxone nasal spray during an opioid overdose and found that 78% used 2 or more doses and 30% used 3 or more doses of Naloxone; and

WHEREAS, A 2021 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health study published in the Harm Reduction Journal reported on a survey of 171 people who use opioids in suburban Maryland; sixty-one (35.7%) of these people who use opioids had received take-home naloxone over a six month period: 57% of naloxone recipients used it to reverse an overdose; 79% of overdose reversals reported needing more than 2 doses; and

WHEREAS, Published by the National Library of Medicine, a study of the National Emergency Medical Services Information System Database of more than 10,000 EMS agencies across 47 states with 946,000 calls giving Naloxone shows that use of Naloxone multi-dosing by EMS increased 54% over five-years, from 18.4% to 28.4% in 2020; and

WHEREAS, On April 30, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a higher 8 milligram dose of naloxone hydrochloride nasal spray product to treat opioid overdose; and

WHEREAS, Thirty-four U.S. States have open access to the 8 mg naloxone nasal spray on their Naloxone Standing Orders, including Ohio, Kentucky, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Colorado, Alaska, New Hampshire, Illinois, Arizona, Kansas, California, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, West Virginia, Michigan, Connecticut, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Maine, Louisiana, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Nebraska, and Vermont; and

WHEREAS, Thirteen state government agencies have purchased the 8 mg Naloxone nasal spray, including Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and West Virginia; and

WHEREAS, The U.S. Veterans Administration added the 8 mg naloxone nasal spray to the National Formulary in November 2021; and

WHEREAS, 70% of the number of lives covered by commercial insurance in the U.S. can access the 8 mg naloxone nasal spray; and

WHEREAS, 90% of the number of lives covered by Medicaid insurance in the U.S. (40 states) can access the 8 mg naloxone nasal spray, including Illinois; and

WHEREAS, The current cost of the 4 mg naloxone nasal spray is $5.93 per milligram and the 8 mg version is $3.75 mg, or 36.7 percent less; and

WHEREAS, Being good stewards of taxpayer money is a priority for the Illinois General Assembly; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we strongly urge the Illinois Department of Human Services to review the value of expanding its naloxone tool kit to include all U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved versions of naloxone to fight the Illinois opioid epidemic; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Governor of Illinois, the Governor's Chief Behavioral Health Officer, the Secretary of the Department of Human Services, and the Director of the Division of Substance Use, Prevention and Recovery.