Also calls on HHS to add opioid overdose prevention medication to Strategic National Stockpile, develop plan for rapidly deploying lifesaving resource

Boston (May 31, 2018) – As part of his ongoing effort to combat the opioid crisis that took 42,000 lives in 2016, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) reintroduced the Opioid Overdose Reduction Act, legislation to protect individuals who administer lifesaving opioid overdose prevention drugs. Death from heroin and other opioid overdoses can be prevented if a victim is administered an opioid overdose prevention drug, such as naloxone, in a timely manner. However, the willingness of medical and non-medical personnel to provide and administer overdose drugs may be deterred by potential civil liability. Senator Markey’s legislation will ensure that individuals who have been properly trained and who administer an opioid prevention drug are protected from civil liability. The bill also ensures that health care professionals who prescribe an opioid overdose drug to a person at risk of overdose or a third party, such as a family member of an abuser, are not liable for civil suits. In April, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams urged more Americans to carry naloxone, stating, “It is time to make sure more people have access to this lifesaving medication.” Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) also co-sponsored the legislation.

“No one should be afraid to save a life because of a potential lawsuit,” said Senator Markey. “The Opioid Overdose Reduction Act will help remove the fear of legal jeopardy for family members, friends and first responders who administer lifesaving drugs like naloxone.”

A copy of the legislation can be found HERE.

Senator Markey also called on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to add naloxone to the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) and to develop a plan for rapidly deploying this lifesaving resource where most needed. The SNS is the nation’s largest stockpile of critical pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, maintained for rapid deployment during a public health emergency that strains the availability of local supplies. In Massachusetts, the demand for naloxone caused the rapid depletion of a state fund used to both purchase naloxone in bulk and subsidize its cost for local communities. In his letter, Senator Markey also asks whether HHS has considered adding naloxone to the stockpile, any barriers to doing so, and how the federal government would work with states to access stockpiled medication.

“The higher naloxone prices and the increase in overdoses, particularly from synthetic opioids, are preventing many communities and their first-responders from procuring naloxone in the quantities necessary to respond to this public health emergency,” writes Senator Markey in his letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar. “By stockpiling easily administered naloxone formulations in the SNS, we can make available a sufficient supply of this life-saving medication to states and localities hit particularly hard by the opioid crisis.”

A copy of Senator Markey’s letter to HHS can be found HERE.

###