HB0009eng 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB0009 Engrossed LRB094 03508 RXD 33511 b

AN ACT concerning health.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Drug Overdose Prevention Act.

Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:

"Opioid antagonist" means naloxone hydrochloride or any other similarly acting and equally safe drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of drug overdose.

"Department" means the Department of Human Services Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse.

"Director" means the Director of the Department of Human Services Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse.

Section 10. Reports of drug overdose.

(a) The Director shall publish 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 for the preceding period of not less than 5 years. The report shall also provide information on interventions that would be effective in reducing the rate of fatal or nonfatal drug overdose.

(b) The report shall include:

(1) trends in drug overdose death rates;

(2) trends in emergency room utilization related to drug overdoses and the cost impact of emergency room utilization;

(3) trends in utilization of pre-hospital and emergency services and the cost impact of emergency services utilization;

(4) suggested improvements in data collection; and

(5) a description of other interventions effective in reducing the rate of fatal or nonfatal drug overdoses.

Section 15. Programs; drug overdose prevention.

(a) The Director shall establish a program to provide for the production and publication of drug overdose prevention, recognition, and response literature. The program shall also provide assistance in the development of 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 officers, firefighters, public safety officers, needle exchange program staff, and other interested people. 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.

(b) The Director shall provide advice to State and local officials on the growing drug overdose crisis, including the prevalence of drug overdose incidents, trends in drug overdose incidents, and solutions to the drug overdose crisis.

Section 20. Grants.

(a) The Director shall award grants, in accordance with this Section, to support local drug overdose prevention, recognition, and response projects. Municipal health departments, correctional institutions, and community-based organizations may apply to the Department for a grant pursuant to this Section at such time and in such manner as the Director prescribes.

(b) 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.

(c) 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:

(1) policies and projects to encourage people, including drug users, to call 9-1-1 when they witness a potentially fatal drug overdose;

(2) drug overdose prevention, recognition and response education projects in jails, prisons, drug treatment centers, and other organizations that work with, or have access to, drug users, their families and communities;

(3) drug overdose recognition and response training, including rescue breathing, in jails, prisons, drug treatment centers, and other organizations that work with, or have access to, drug users, their families and communities;

(4) the production and distribution of targeted or mass media materials on drug overdose prevention and response;

(5) naloxone hydrochloride prescription or distribution projects;

(6) the institution of education and training projects on drug overdose response and treatment for emergency services and law enforcement personnel; or

(7) a system of parent, family, and survivor education and mutual support groups.

The Director shall 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.

Section 25. Prescription; administration. A licensed health care professional that is permitted by law to prescribe an opioid antagonist may, in an emergency situation and without a fee, prescribe, dispense, distribute, or administer an opioid antagonist without being liable for damages in a professional or civil action or subject to criminal prosecution, except for willful and wanton misconduct.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.