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A1816
ASSEMBLY, No. 1816
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ANTHONY S. VERRELLI
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblywoman DAWN FANTASIA
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Speight and Assemblyman Tully
SYNOPSIS
���� Requires hospitals to test for fentanyl and xylazine
as part of urine drug screenings.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning urine drug screenings and
supplementing P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.).
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� a.� As used in this
section, �urine drug screening� means a chemical analysis intended to test a
patient for the presence of multiple drugs, including, but not limited to,
cocaine, opioids, and phencyclidine.
���� b.��� In the event that an
individual is treated at a general acute care hospital licensed pursuant to
P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.) and the hospital conducts a urine drug
screening to assist in diagnosing the individual�s condition, the hospital
shall include testing for fentanyl, xylazine, and any drug for which the
Commissioner of Health has issued a public health alert on the risk of overdose
from the illicit use of that drug in the individual�s urine drug screening.
���� c.���� If a urine drug
screening conducted in accordance with subsection b. of this section detects
fentanyl, xylazine, or, any drug for which the Commissioner of Health has
issued a public health alert on the risk of overdose from the illicit use of
that drug, the hospital shall report the test results, which shall be
de-identified, to the Department of Health in a form and manner as shall be
prescribed by the Commissioner of Health.� Nothing in this subsection shall be
construed to revise or rescind any other mandatory reporting related to opioid
drugs, drug overdoses, fentanyl, xylazine, or any other drug as may be required
by any department, division, office, agency, or other instrumentality of the
State.
���� d.��� Nothing in this section
shall be construed to affect the provisions of section 4 of P.L.2013, c.46
(C.24:6J-4), section 7 of P.L.2013, c.46 (C.2C:35-30), or section 8 of
P.L.2013, c.46 (C.2C:35-31), or to preclude a general acute care hospital
without analyzer equipment for urinalysis from utilizing fentanyl test strips,
xylazine test strips, or other drug test strips to comply with the provisions
of this section.
���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect 90 days after the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
���� This bill requires hospitals
that conduct a urine drug screening in the course of treating a patient to
include in the screening testing for fentanyl, xylazine, and any drug for which
the Commissioner of Health has issued a public health alert on the risk of
overdose from the illicit use of that drug.� If the urine drug screening
detects fentanyl, xylazine, or any drug for which the Commissioner of Health
has issued a public health alert on the risk of overdose from the illicit use
of that drug, the hospital will be required to report the test results in a
form and manner as prescribed by the Commissioner of Health.
���� Both fentanyl, which is a
powerful synthetic opioid, and xylazine, which is a potent animal tranquilizer,
have been associated with sharp increases in overdose deaths, exacerbating
mortality rates in the already-deadly opioid epidemic.� Both fentanyl and
xylazine have been found in other street drugs, including heroin, cocaine, and
methamphetamine, with increasing frequency, and both drugs can increase the
risk of a fatal overdose.� Although some users of street drugs may specifically
seek out fentanyl, xylazine, or both, others may be at increased risk of
overdose because they are not aware these drugs may be present in the
substances they are consuming.�
���� Currently, hospital urine drug
screenings do not routinely test for fentanyl or xylazine, which may result in
delays in the patient receiving the level or type of treatment needed to
reverse an overdose.