Bill Text: NJ A1209 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes Overdose Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-11 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Health Committee [A1209 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-A1209-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
220th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2022 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ROBERT D. CLIFTON
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
Assemblyman CHRISTOPHER P. DEPHILLIPS
District 40 (Bergen, Essex, Morris and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes Overdose Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning overdose fatalities and near fatalities and supplementing Title 24 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
"Board" means the Overdose Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board.
"Controlled substance" means any substance so classified under subsection (6) of section 102 of the "Controlled Substances Act" (21 U.S.C. s.802), and includes all substances listed on Schedules I through V of 21 C.F.R. s.1308, or under P.L.1970, c.226 (C.24:21-1 et seq.) as they may be revised from time to time. The term, wherever it appears in this act or administrative regulation promulgated pursuant to this act, shall include controlled substance analogs.
"Controlled substance analog" means a substance that has a chemical structure substantially similar to that of a controlled dangerous substance and that was specifically designed to produce an effect substantially similar to that of a controlled dangerous substance. The term shall not include a substance manufactured or distributed in conformance with the provisions of an approved new drug application or an exemption for investigational use within the meaning of section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. s.355).
"Near fatality" means a case in which a person is in serious or critical condition, as certified by a physician, caused, in whole or in part, by the consumption or use of a controlled substance or controlled substance analog.
"Overdose fatality" means a death caused, in whole or in part, by the consumption or use of a controlled substance or controlled substance analog.
2. a. There is established the Overdose Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board. For the purposes of complying with the provisions of Article V, Section IV, paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, the board is established within the Department of Human Services, but notwithstanding the establishment, the board shall be independent of any supervision or control by the department or any board or officer thereof.
b. The purpose of the board is to review overdose fatalities and near fatalities in New Jersey and to identify their causes, their relationship to governmental support systems, and methods of prevention. The board shall identify treads and patterns of overdose fatalities and near fatalities in New Jersey; identify risk factors and their prevalence for overdose fatalities and near fatalities; evaluate the responses of governmental systems in preventing overdose fatalities and near fatalities and to offer recommendations for improvement in those responses; promote cooperation and coordination among agencies involved in investigations of overdose fatalities and near fatalities and treating persons with problems associated with substance use disorder; and characterize risk groups in terms that are compatible with the development of public policy to reduce the incidences of substance abuse and prevent overdose fatalities and near fatalities.
3. a. The board shall consist of 13 members as follows: the Commissioners of Health and Human Services, the Attorney General, and the Superintendent of State Police, or their designees; the State Medical Examiner, and the Executive Director of the Governor's Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, who shall serve ex-officio; and seven public members appointed by the Governor, one of whom shall be a representative of the New Jersey Prosecutors Office, one of whom shall be a representative of the Facing Addiction Task Force, one of whom shall be a representative of The Partnership for a Drug Free New Jersey, one of whom shall be a representative of New Jersey Prevention Network, one of whom shall be a representative of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse New Jersey, one of whom shall be a physician with expertise in drug addiction and substance use disorder treatment, and one of whom shall be a substance use disorder counselor.
b. The public members shall serve for three-year terms. Of the public members first appointed, four shall serve for a period of two years, and three shall serve for a term of three years. Vacancies in the membership of the board shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments were made. The public members shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed for necessary and reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties.
c. The board shall organize as soon as may be practicable after the appointment of its members and shall select a chairperson from among the members. The members shall select a secretary, who need not be a member of the board.
d. The board is entitled to the assistance and services of the employees of any State department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available for the purposes of reviewing a case pursuant to this act. The board may also seek the advice of experts specializing the in fields of forensic medicine, psychiatry, psychology, social work, law enforcement, family law, or other fields, if the facts of a case warrant additional expertise.
4. a. The board shall identify all overdose fatalities and near fatalities involving controlled substances or controlled substance analogs that occur in the State of New Jersey and determine which overdose fatalities and near fatalities shall receive full review. The board may establish local or regional community-based teams to review the facts and circumstances surrounding the fatalities and near fatalities identified by the board.
b. Each team shall include, at a minimum, a person experienced in prosecution, a person experienced in law enforcement investigation, a person experienced in drug addiction and substance use disorder treatment, a medical examiner, a forensic pathologist, and a physician. As necessary to perform its functions, each team may add additional members or seek the advice of experts in other fields if the facts of a case warrant additional expertise.
c. Each team shall submit to the board chairperson a report of its findings and recommendations based upon its review of each overdose fatality or near fatality.
5. a. The board shall record the following information for each overdose fatality: name; age; date of birth; date of death; place of death; or pronouncement of death; date and time of death; and circumstances surrounding the death in a confidential master file. Similar information shall be recorded for each overdose near fatality reviewed by the board. The file shall serve as the minimum record of the case and shall be the only file that contains the name of the person whose death or near fatality is being reviewed. The master file shall not be subject to discovery, but may be used by the board chairperson to refer a case, including the board's deliberations and conclusions, to the extent necessary for an appropriate agency to investigate or to provide services.
b. Except as provided in subsection a. of this section, the deliberations and conclusions of the board and its teams, related to a specific case, shall be confidential. Summary records that are prepared by the board and the teams on each reported case shall be free of information that would identify the person whose death or near fatality is being reviewed.
c. The board shall review the reports submitted by each team and issue an annual report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), the Legislature on the number of cases reviewed and specific non-identifying information regarding cases of particular significance. The board shall also include in the report recommendations for achieving better coordination and collaboration among State and local agencies and recommendations for system-wide improvements in services to prevent substance use disorder and overdose fatalities and near fatalities.
6. a. The board may subpoena and review records that pertain to the person whose death or near fatality is being reviewed, except as provided in any statute, regulation, or Executive Order relating to the confidentiality of criminal investigations, criminal investigative files, and medical records concerning any program or activity involving substance use disorder education, prevention, training, treatment, or rehabilitation in accordance with 42 U.S. Code § 290dd-2. The records subject to subpoena and review shall include, but are not limited to, school, private medical, hospital, substance use disorder treatment, mental health, and other records which may be deemed pertinent to the review process and necessary for the formulation of a conclusion by the board.
b. Records obtained by the board pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall not be subject to subpoena.
c. If, at the time of initial notification or during the subsequent review, the board has reasonable cause to believe that the overdose fatality or near fatality is the result of the actions of another person, then the board shall notify or shall verify that notification has been made to the county prosecutor of the county where the fatality or near fatality occurred or was pronounced.
7. A member of the board shall not be liable for any civil damages as a result of providing in good faith any reports, records, opinions or recommendations pursuant to this act.
8. The board may solicit and receive grants and other funds made available for its purposes by a governmental, public, private, nonprofit, or for-profit agency, including funds made available under any federal or State law, regulation or program.
9. The board shall adopt regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) concerning the operation of the board, procedures for conducting reviews of cases involving overdose fatalities and near fatalities, and other matters necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.
10. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
The bill establishes the Overdose Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board in, but not of, the Department of Human Services. The purpose of the board would be to review overdose fatalities and near fatalities in New Jersey and to identify their causes, their relationship to governmental support systems, and methods of prevention.
Specifically, the 13-member board would consist of the Commissioners of Health and Human Services, the Attorney General, and the Superintendent of State Police, or their designees; the State Medical Examiner, and the Executive Director of the Governor's Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, who shall serve ex-officio; and seven public members appointed by the Governor. The public members would include representatives from the New Jersey Prosecutors Office, the Facing Addiction Task Force, The Partnership for a Drug Free New Jersey, New Jersey Prevention Network, and the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse New Jersey, a physician with expertise in drug addiction and substance use disorder treatment, and a substance use disorder counselor.
The board would identify all overdose fatalities and near fatalities involving controlled substances or controlled substance analogs that occur in the New Jersey and determine which overdose fatalities and near fatalities would receive full review.
Under the provisions of the bill, the board would be allowed to establish local or regional community-based teams to review the facts and circumstances surrounding the overdose fatalities and near fatalities identified by the board. The teams would include, at a minimum, members of the medical, law enforcement, forensic pathology, and drug addiction and substance use disorder treatment fields. The teams could add additional members or seek the advice of experts in other fields, according to the facts of a case.
Each team would submit a report about its findings and recommendations, based on its review, to the board's chairperson. The board would then to review the reports submitted by each team and issue an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature. The report would include specific information about cases reviewed by the board and recommendations for achieving better coordination and collaboration among State and local agencies and system-wide improvements in services to prevent overdose fatalities and near fatalities.
The bill requires the board to maintain a master confidential file containing identifying information and information on an overdose fatality and the circumstances surrounding the fatality. The file would contain similar information for a near fatality reviewed by the board. The file would serve as the minimum record of the case and would not be subject to discovery, but could be used by the board's chairperson to refer a case for an appropriate agency to investigate or to provide services.
The board would also be able to subpoena and review school, private medical, hospital, substance use disorder treatment, mental health, and other pertinent records of the person whose overdose death or near fatality is being reviewed, except as provided in any federal or State statute, regulation, or Executive Order relating to the confidentiality of criminal investigations, criminal investigative files, and medical records from programs or activities involving substance use disorder education, prevention, training, treatment, or rehabilitation.
If, as a result of a records review, the board believes that an overdose fatality or near fatality is the result of another person's actions, the board would be required to notify or verify that notification has been made to the county prosecutor where the fatality or near fatality occurred or was pronounced.
The bill stipulates that board members could not be held liable for any civil damages as a result of providing in good faith any reports, records, opinions, or recommendations pursuant to the provisions of the bill, and allows the board to solicit and receive grants or funds for its purposes made available by governmental, public, private, nonprofit, or for-profit agencies.
