In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation to increase access to FDA-approved opioid overdose reversal medications.

In 2014, the General Assembly enacted Act 139, which among other things, authorized law enforcement agencies, fire departments, and fire companies to obtain a supply of naloxone to administer to an individual undergoing or believed to be undergoing an opioid-related drug overdose.  In 2022, the General Assembly expanded this access to include other opioid antagonists via Act 135. 

According to a recent article [1],   since 2012, data from the Department of Health indicates that more than 94,300 Pennsylvanians have died through accidental and undetermined drug overdoses, averaging more than 7,862 deaths a year over that time period.  In 2023 alone, 13 Pennsylvanians, on average, died each day from an overdose.  Pennsylvania’s standing order for naloxone was first issued in 2015, allowing pharmacists to dispense naloxone without requiring an individual prescription.  The directive was issued to help reduce the staggering number of drug-related overdose deaths the Commonwealth was experiencing.  According to statistics from the Department of Health, naloxone has been administered by EMS personnel more than 96,300 times since 2018.

Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Zurnai, the first nalmefene hydrochloride auto-injector for the emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose in adults and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older.  The agency approved the first nasal spray formulation of nalmefene in May 2023.

My legislation will not require the use of additional opioid overdose reversal medications, nor mandate the issuance of a standing order or prescription for new medications.  However, it will provide updated authorization for such use and provide continued good faith protections provided for in current law.  As newer opioid overdose reversal medications are approved for use, we must remain proactive in providing more tools and access to combat overdose events.

Please join me in cosponsoring this important piece of legislation.

________________
[1] https://www.pennlive.com/politics/2024/08/pa-coalition-including-cops-and-corrections-officers-wants-access-to-more-opioid-overdose-treatments.html
 
 

Statutes/Laws affected:
Printer's No. 3644: P.L.233, No.64