Bill Text: IL SB1815 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse and Dependency Act. Provides that any health care professional and any EMS Medical Director who, acting in good faith, directly or by standing order, prescribes or dispenses an opioid antidote to: (a) a patient who, in the judgment of the health care professional, is capable of administering the drug in an emergency, or (b) a person who is not at risk of opioid overdose but who, in the judgment of the health care professional, may be in a position to assist another individual during an opioid-related drug overdose and who has received basic instruction on how to administer an opioid antagonist shall not, as a result of his or her acts or omissions, except willful and wanton misconduct, be liable for civil damages when administering naloxone in an emergency situation. Amends the Good Samaritan Act. Provides that any law enforcement officer or fireman, any emergency medical technician, and any first responder who in good faith provides emergency care, including the administration of an opioid antagonist, without fee or compensation to any person shall not, as a result of his or her acts or omissions, except willful and wanton misconduct, be liable for civil damages when administering naloxone in an emergency situation.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2019-01-09 - Session Sine Die [SB1815 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-SB1815-Introduced.html

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100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2017 and 2018 SB1815 Introduced 2/9/2017, by Sen. Chapin Rose SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
20 ILCS 301/5-23
745 ILCS 49/70
Amends the Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse and Dependency Act. Provides that any health care professional and any EMS Medical Director who, acting in good faith, directly or by standing order, prescribes or dispenses an opioid antidote to: (a) a patient who, in the judgment of the health care professional, is capable of administering the drug in an emergency, or (b) a person who is not at risk of opioid overdose but who, in the judgment of the health care professional, may be in a position to assist another individual during an opioid-related drug overdose and who has received basic instruction on how to administer an opioid antagonist shall not, as a result of his or her acts or omissions, except willful and wanton misconduct, be liable for civil damages when administering naloxone in an emergency situation. Amends the Good Samaritan Act. Provides that any law enforcement officer or fireman, any emergency medical technician, and any first responder who in good faith provides emergency care, including the administration of an opioid antagonist, without fee or compensation to any person shall not, as a result of his or her acts or omissions, except willful and wanton misconduct, be liable for civil damages when administering naloxone in an emergency situation.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning State government.
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 changing Section 5-23 as follows:
(20 ILCS 301/5-23)
Sec. 5-23. Drug Overdose Prevention Program.
(a) Reports of drug overdose.
(1) The Director of the Division of Alcoholism and
Substance Abuse shall 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. The report shall
also provide information on interventions that would be
effective in reducing the rate of fatal or nonfatal drug
overdose and shall include an analysis of drug overdose
information reported to the Department of Public Health
pursuant to subsection (e) of Section 3-3013 of the
Counties Code, Section 6.14g of the Hospital Licensing Act,
and subsection (j) of Section 22-30 of the School Code.
(2) The report may include:
(A) Trends in drug overdose death rates.
(B) Trends in emergency room utilization related

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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.
(F) A description of efforts undertaken to educate
the public about unused medication and about how to
properly dispose of unused medication, including the
number of registered collection receptacles in this
State, mail-back programs, and drug take-back events.
(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

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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 opioid
antagonists for the treatment of drug overdose. Such
programs may include the prescribing of opioid antagonists
for the treatment of drug overdose to a person who is not
at risk of opioid overdose but who, in the judgment of the
health care professional, may be in a position to assist
another individual during an opioid-related drug overdose
and who has received basic instruction on how to administer
an opioid antagonist.
(2) The Director may provide advice to State and local
officials on the growing drug overdose crisis, including
the prevalence of drug overdose incidents, programs
promoting the disposal of unused prescription drugs,
trends in drug overdose incidents, and solutions to the
drug overdose crisis.
(c) Grants.

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(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

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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, the potential dangers of keeping unused
prescription drugs in the home, and methods to properly
dispose of unused prescription drugs.
(E) Prescription and distribution of opioid
antagonists.
(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 opioid
antagonists.

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(1) Any A health care professional and any EMS Medical
Director as defined in 77 Ill. Adm. Code 515.100 who,
acting in good faith, directly or by standing order,
prescribes or dispenses an opioid antagonist to: (a) a
patient who, in the judgment of the health care
professional, is capable of administering the drug in an
emergency, or (b) a person who is not at risk of opioid
overdose but who, in the judgment of the health care
professional, may be in a position to assist another
individual during an opioid-related drug overdose and who
has received basic instruction on how to administer an
opioid antagonist shall not, as a result of his or her acts
or omissions, except willful and wanton misconduct, be
liable for civil damages when administering naloxone in an
emergency situation, and shall not, as a result of his or
her acts or omissions, be subject to: (i) any 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 or (ii) any criminal
liability, except for willful and wanton misconduct.
(2) A person who is not otherwise licensed to
administer an opioid antagonist may in an emergency
administer without fee an opioid antagonist if the person
has received the patient information specified in
paragraph (4) of this subsection and believes in good faith

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that another person is experiencing a drug overdose. The
person shall not, as a result of his or her acts or
omissions, be (i) 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 (ii)
subject to any criminal prosecution or civil liability,
except for willful and wanton misconduct.
(3) A health care professional prescribing an opioid
antagonist 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

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physicians, pharmacists, 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 antagonist" means a drug that binds to opioid
receptors and blocks or inhibits the effect of opioids
acting on those receptors, including, but not limited to,
naloxone hydrochloride or any other similarly acting drug
approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
"Health care professional" means a physician licensed
to practice medicine in all its branches, a licensed
physician assistant with prescriptive authority, a
licensed advanced practice nurse with prescriptive
authority, an advanced practice nurse or physician
assistant who practices in a hospital, hospital affiliate,
or ambulatory surgical treatment center and possesses
appropriate clinical privileges in accordance with the
Nurse Practice Act, or a pharmacist licensed to practice
pharmacy under the Pharmacy Practice Act.
"Patient" includes a person who is not at risk of
opioid overdose but who, in the judgment of the physician,
advanced practice nurse, or physician assistant, may be in

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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 antagonist.
"Patient information" includes information provided to
the patient on drug overdose prevention and recognition;
how to perform rescue breathing and resuscitation; opioid
antagonist dosage and administration; the importance of
calling 911; care for the overdose victim after
administration of the overdose antagonist; and other
issues as necessary.
(e) Drug overdose response policy.
(1) Every State and local government agency that
employs a law enforcement officer or fireman as those terms
are defined in the Line of Duty Compensation Act must
possess opioid antagonists and must establish a policy to
control the acquisition, storage, transportation, and
administration of such opioid antagonists and to provide
training in the administration of opioid antagonists. A
State or local government agency that employs a fireman as
defined in the Line of Duty Compensation Act but does not
respond to emergency medical calls or provide medical
services shall be exempt from this subsection.
(2) Every publicly or privately owned ambulance,
special emergency medical services vehicle, non-transport
vehicle, or ambulance assist vehicle, as described in the

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Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act, which
responds to requests for emergency services or transports
patients between hospitals in emergency situations must
possess opioid antagonists.
(3) Entities that are required under paragraphs (1) and
(2) to possess opioid antagonists may also apply to the
Department for a grant to fund the acquisition of opioid
antagonists and training programs on the administration of
opioid antagonists.
(Source: P.A. 99-173, eff. 7-29-15; 99-480, eff. 9-9-15;
99-581, eff. 1-1-17; 99-642, eff. 7-28-16; revised 9-19-16.)
Section 10. The Good Samaritan Act is amended by changing
Section 70 as follows:
(745 ILCS 49/70)
Sec. 70. Law enforcement officers, firemen, Emergency
Medical Technicians (EMTs) and First Responders; exemption
from civil liability for emergency care. Any law enforcement
officer or fireman as defined in Section 2 of the Line of Duty
Compensation Act, any "emergency medical technician (EMT)" as
defined in Section 3.50 of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
Systems Act, and any "first responder" as defined in Section
3.60 of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act, who
in good faith provides emergency care, including the
administration of an opioid antagonist as defined in Section

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5-23 of the Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse and Dependency Act,
without fee or compensation to any person shall not, as a
result of his or her acts or omissions, except willful and
wanton misconduct, be liable for civil damages when
administering naloxone in an emergency situation, and shall
not, as a result of his or her acts or omissions, except
willful and wanton misconduct on the part of the person, in
providing the care, be liable to a person to whom such care is
provided for civil damages.
(Source: P.A. 99-480, eff. 9-9-15.)