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A1088
ASSEMBLY, No. 1088
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ROBERT D. CLIFTON
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
Assemblyman CHRISTOPHER P. DEPHILLIPS
District 40 (Bergen, Essex 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.