Bill Text: CA AB24 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Emergency response: opioid antagonist kits.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-2)

Status: (Failed) 2024-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB24 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB24-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  April 26, 2023

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 13, 2023

Amended  IN  Assembly  March 30, 2023

Amended  IN  Assembly  March 06, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 24

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Introduced by Assembly Member Haney
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Dixon, Ortega, Blanca Rubio, and Waldron)
(Coauthor: Senator Cortese)

December 05, 2022

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An act to add Chapter 15 (commencing with Section 11860) to Part 2 of Division 10.5 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to emergency response.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 24, as amended, Haney. Emergency response: opioid antagonist kits.

Existing law creates the State Department of Public Health and vests it with duties, powers, functions, jurisdiction, and responsibilities with regard to the advancement of public health. Existing law requires the department, subject to an appropriation in the Budget Act of 2016, to award funding to local health departments, local governmental agencies, or on a competitive basis to other organizations, as specified, to support or establish programs that provide naloxone to first responders and to at-risk opioid users through programs that serve at-risk drug users. Existing law exempts from civil liability any person who, in good faith and not for compensation, renders emergency medical or nonmedical care or assistance at the scene of an emergency other than an act or omission constituting gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.

This bill would require a person or entity that owns or is responsible for a designated facility, defined as a bar, as defined, gas station, public library, or residential hotel, as defined, in a county that is experiencing an opioid overdose crisis, as defined, to acquire and after receiving an opioid antagonist kit from the department, to post an opioid antagonist kit, which includes an instructional poster and opioid antagonist nasal spray, in areas that are readily accessible only by employees, including, but not limited to, a break room, and to restock the opioid antagonist kit after each use or upon expiration of the opioid antagonist nasal spray contained in the opioid antagonist kit. kit, and to request a replacement kit from the department, as specified. The bill would apply the provisions governing exempt from civil liability described above to a person or designated facility that provides aid with an opioid antagonist kit stored at the designated facility. provides, or omits to provide, aid with the opioid antagonist kit, as specified. The bill would prohibit an employer from requiring its employees to render aid, or from disciplining an employee for not rendering aid, or from prohibiting employees to render aid with an opioid antagonist in the event of an apparent overdose. The bill would provide clarify, among other things, that a designated facility and its employees have no obligation to provide an opioid antagonist in the event of an apparent overdose and shall face no liability if they fail to identify an apparent overdose or provide an opioid antagonist, and that a designated facility is not obligated to acquire, post, or restock opioid antagonist kits under specified circumstances. The overdose.

This bill would require the department to compile a list of all counties that are experiencing an opioid overdose crisis, as defined, and publish the list on its internet website. The bill would also require the department to provide opioid antagonist kits free of charge, charge to as many designated facilities as possible in the counties on the list, to create the opioid antagonist poster with easy-to-understand instructions and graphics on the administration of the attached opioid antagonist nasal spray, and to make the determination on how best to allocate and distribute its limited supply of opioid antagonist among its various programs in the event of an opioid antagonist supply shortage. The

This bill would make a violation of these provisions subject to a civil penalty of not more than $100, except for public entities or public employees. The bill would require these provisions to be effective 6 months after the department publishes the list of counties experiencing an opioid crisis on its internet website. The bill would require these provisions to be implemented only upon an appropriation being made for these purposes by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute.

Existing law grants the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which is within the Department of Industrial Relations, jurisdiction over all employment and places of employment, with the power necessary to enforce and administer all occupational health and safety laws and standards.

This bill would require the division to investigate and enforce the provisions in this act.

By requiring public libraries to provide opioid antagonist kits, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 Chapter 15 (commencing with Section 11860) is added to Part 2 of Division 10.5 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:

CHAPTER  15. Opioid Antagonist Kit

CHAPTER  15. 

11860.

 For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(a) “Bar” means a business with a Type 42, 48, or 90 license issued by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

(b) “Department” means the State Department of Public Health.

(b)

(c) “Designated facilities” means a bar, gas station, public library, or a residential hotel.

(c)

(d) “Opioid antagonist” means naloxone hydrochloride or another drug approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration that, when administered, negates or neutralizes in whole or in part the pharmacological effects of an opioid in the body, and has been approved for the treatment of an opioid overdose.

(d)

(e) “Opioid antagonist kit” means an emergency medical response kit that contains both of the following:

(1) A poster that provides simplified instructions on how to administer an opioid antagonist to a person who is suffering, or is reasonably believed to be suffering, from an opioid overdose.

(2) An opioid antagonist nasal spray that is attached to the poster.

(e)

(f) “Residential hotel” means a residential hotel as defined in Section 50519.

11861.

 (a) This chapter shall apply to designated facilities in counties that are experiencing an opioid overdose crisis, defined as an opioid-related overdose death rate equal to or greater than 100 deaths per 100,000 people and based on metrics reported by the that receive opioid antagonist kits from the department.

(b) In order to ensure public safety, the person or entity that owns or is responsible for the designated facility shall do all of the following: following after receiving an opioid antagonist kit from the department:

(1)Acquire an opioid antagonist kit for the designated facility.

(2)

(1) Place the opioid antagonist kit poster in an area that is readily accessible only by employees of the designated facility, including, but not limited to, a break room.

(3)

(2) Inspect periodically all opioid antagonist kits acquired and posted in the designated facility to ensure the opioid antagonist nasal sprays are not expired.

(4)

(3) Restock the opioid antagonist kit after each use or upon expiration of the opioid antagonist nasal spray contained in the opioid antagonist kit.

(c)A designated facility or person that provides aid with an opioid antagonist kit stored at a designated facility is not liable for any civil damages resulting from any acts or omissions in the rendering of emergency care by use of the opioid antagonist kit.

(4) Request a replacement opioid antagonist kit from the department as soon as reasonably possible after any use of the nasal spray contained in the kit.

(d)

(c) The opioid antagonist kit shall be posted and kept posted in every designated facility as required in paragraph (2) (1) of subdivision (b).

(e)

(d) A designated facility is not obligated to comply with subdivision (b) in the event of either of the following:

(1)(A)There is a shortage of opioid antagonists, as identified in subdivision (c) of Section 11862.

(B)In the event of a shortage, the department shall designate in which counties this chapter shall continue to apply.

(2)The state is unable to provide opioid antagonist kits to designated facilities at no cost. that both of the following occur:

(1) The nasal spray contained in the opioid antagonist kit provided by the department has been used or has expired.

(2) The department does not provide a replacement nasal spray to the designated facility at no cost.

11862.

 The State Department of Public Health shall do each of the following:

(a) Provide an opioid antagonist kit, as described in subdivision (d) (e) of Section 11860, free of charge to the person or entity identified in subdivision (b) of Section 11861. as many designated facilities as possible in the counties of the state that are on the list described in subdivision (e).

(b) Create the opioid antagonist kit poster with easy-to-understand instructions and graphics on the administration of the attached opioid antagonist nasal spray.

(c) Provide a replacement nasal spray to a designated facility at no cost within seven days of the facility’s request for a replacement.

(c)

(d) In the event of a shortage of opioid antagonist, make the determination on how best to allocate and distribute its limited supply of opioid antagonist among its various programs.

(e) Compile a list of all counties that are experiencing an opioid overdose crisis, defined as an opioid-related overdose death rate equal to or greater than 100 deaths per 100,000 people and based on metrics reported by the department and publish the list on its internet website.

11863.

 A person who violates any provision of this chapter may be subject to a civil penalty of not more than one hundred dollars ($100). This section shall not apply to a public entity or public employee.

(a)A designated facility and its employees have no obligation to provide an opioid antagonist in the event of an opioid overdose or suspected opioid overdose and shall have no civil or criminal liability in the event that they fail to identify an opioid overdose or suspected opioid overdose or fail to provide or administer an opioid antagonist on their premises.

(b)A designated facility shall not prohibit its employee from providing an opioid antagonist in the event of an apparent overdose.

11864.

 (a) This chapter does not affect the availability of any immunity otherwise applicable to a designated facility or its employees, including, but not limited to, Sections 2395 and 2727.5 of the Business and Professions Code, Sections 1714.2 and 1714.5 of the Civil Code, Sections 820.2 and 850.8 of the Government Code, and Section 1799.102 of the Health and Safety Code or create either of the following:

(1) A new obligation on the part of a designated facility or its employees to provide an opioid antagonist in the event of an opioid overdose or suspected opioid overdose.

(2) A mandatory duty pursuant to Section 815.6 of the Government Code.

(b) (1) A designated facility shall not require its employee to render, discipline the employee for failure to render, or prohibit its employee from rendering emergency treatment with an opioid antagonist in the event of an apparent overdose.

(2) Except as described in subdivision (d), neither a designated facility nor an employee of a designated facility has a duty to render emergency treatment to a member of the public with an opioid antagonist in the event of an opioid overdose or suspected opioid overdose on the premises of the designated facility.

(c) (1) A designated facility that complies with the requirements of Section 11861 shall not be liable for civil damages resulting from an act or omission related to the furnishing or use of the opioid antagonist on or near its premises.

(2) A person who, in good faith and not for compensation, renders emergency treatment with an opioid antagonist stored at a designated facility is not liable for any civil damages resulting from any acts or omissions in the rendering of emergency care by use of the opioid antagonist.

(3) A person who renders emergency treatment by means of an opioid antagonist and who receives compensation as a result of their employment with the designated facility, but is not compensated to provide emergency medical care, is not rendering emergency medical care or furnishing an opioid antagonist “for compensation.”

(4) This subdivision does not apply to an act or omission related to the rendering of emergency treatment at the scene of an opioid overdose or suspected opioid overdose by means of an opioid antagonist that constitutes gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.

(d) This chapter does not alter either of the following:

(1) The duty of an employer to ensure the safety of its employees that are established by existing law, including, but not limited to, the provisions of Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 6400) of Part 1 of Division 5 of the Labor Code.

(2) Any duty a business establishment may have under common law to reasonably ensure the safety of its patrons, including the duty to protect or aid a patron who sustains an injury or suffers an illness while on the business's premises.

11865.

 A designated facility is not required to provide training in the use of the opioid antagonist, beyond posting the opioid antagonist poster kit as detailed in paragraph (2) (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 11861.

11866.

 (a)This chapter shall become effective six months after the department has published the list of counties experiencing an opioid crisis, as provided in subdivision (a) (e) of Section 11861, on its internet website.

(b)In the event that the department updates its list of counties that are experiencing an opioid overdose crisis, designated facilities in counties that were not on the list prior to the update shall be allowed a reasonable time to secure the requisite opioid antagonist kit. 11862.

11867.

 The Division of Occupational Safety and Health shall investigate and enforce the provisions of this chapter pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 6300) of Part 1 of Division 5 of the Labor Code.

11868.

 This article shall be implemented only upon an appropriation being made for its purpose by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute.

SEC. 2.

 If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.