Bill > S474

Introduced Session

This bill amends the "Overdose Prevention Act," P.L.2013, c.42 (C.24:6J-1 et seq.), to require each county health department to obtain, and to maintain in an accessible storage location, a reserve stock of opioid antidotes to be dispensed to first responders, schools that have adopted a policy to acquire and administer opioid antidotes, and hospital pharmacies, to ensure an uninterrupted supply of antidotes is available to those entities. The exact quantity of opioid antidotes to be maintained in the reserve stock will be determined by the director of each county health department in consultation with the county prosecutor, the county association of police chiefs, and the county association of fire chiefs, and with input from the hospitals, school districts, schools, emergency medical responders, and emergency medical response entities operating in that county. The bill specifies that, whenever a first responder, first response entity, school, or hospital pharmacy anticipates it will exhaust its supply of opioid antidotes before it is able to acquire more, it may make a request to the county health department to provide an interim supply of opioid antidotes from the reserve stock. Upon receiving a request, the county health department will be required to promptly deliver to the requester an interim supply sufficient to meet the requester's need for opioid antidotes for the interim period between the date the requester's supply will be exhausted and the date the requester will receive a new supply of opioid antidotes by regular means. First responders, first response entities, schools, and hospital pharmacies that obtain an interim supply of opioid antidotes from the reserve stock will be required to reimburse the county health department for the department's actual costs in acquiring and delivering the interim supply. The bill expressly authorizes county health departments to enter into shared service agreements, in accordance with the "Uniform Shared Services and Consolidation Act," in order to facilitate the acquisition of opioid antidotes at discounted rates, minimize delivery costs, or otherwise facilitate the implementation of the bill's provisions. The bill requires the Commissioner of Human Services to establish rules and regulations to identify the manner and timeframe to request a county health department provide interim supplies of opioid antidotes, and the manner and timeframe to provide reimbursements to the department for the costs of acquiring and delivering interim supplies. Finally, the bill specifies that any county health department or employee of a county health department that provides an interim supply of opioid antidotes from its reserve stock will be immune from criminal or civil liability, or any disciplinary action, in association with the provision of the interim supply.

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Nick Scutari (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee (on 01/11/2022)

Official Document