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A2030
ASSEMBLY, No. 2030
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman SHAMA A. HAIDER
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
���� Requires county health departments to maintain
reserve stock of opioid antidotes to dispense to certain entities on interim
basis to ensure uninterrupted supply.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning access to opioid antidotes and
amending P.L.2013, c.46.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� Section 3 of P.L.2013,
c.46 (C.24:6J-3) is amended to read as follows:
���� 3.��� As used in this act:
���� "Commissioner" means
the Commissioner of Human Services.
����
�County health department�
means a county health department established pursuant to section 6 of the
�Local Health Services Act,� P.L.1975, c.329 (C.26:3A2-6).
���� "Drug overdose"
means an acute condition including, but not limited to, physical illness, coma,
mania, hysteria, diminished consciousness, respiratory depression, or death
resulting from the consumption or use of a controlled dangerous substance or
another substance with which a controlled dangerous substance was combined and
that a layperson would reasonably believe to require medical assistance.
���� "Emergency medical
response entity" means an organization, company, governmental entity,
community-based program, or healthcare system that provides pre-hospital
emergency medical services and assistance.� "Emergency medical response
entity" includes, but is not limited to, a first aid, rescue and ambulance
squad or other basic life support (BLS) ambulance provider; a mobile intensive
care provider or other advanced life support (ALS) ambulance provider; an air
medical service provider; or a fire-fighting company or organization, which
squad, provider, company, or organization is qualified to send paid or
volunteer emergency medical responders to the scene of an emergency.
���� "Emergency medical
responder" means a person, other than a health care practitioner, who is
employed on a paid or volunteer basis in the area of emergency response,
including, but not limited to, an emergency medical technician, a mobile intensive
care paramedic, or a fire fighter, acting in that person's professional
capacity.
���� "Health care
practitioner" means any individual who is licensed or certified to provide
health care services pursuant to Title 45 of the Revised Statutes.
���� "Institution of higher
education" means any public or private university, college, technical
college or community college located in New Jersey.
���� "Law enforcement
agency" means a department, division,
bureau, commission, board or other
authority of the State or of any political subdivision thereof which employs
law enforcement officers.
���� "Law enforcement
officer" means a person whose public duties include the power to act as an
officer for the detection, apprehension, arrest and conviction of offenders
against the laws of this State.
���� "Medical assistance"
means professional medical services that are provided to a person experiencing
a drug overdose by a health care practitioner, acting within the practitioner's
scope of professional practice, including professional medical services that
are mobilized through telephone contact with the 911 telephone emergency
service.
���� "Occupational
school" means a business, trade, technical, or other school approved by a
nationally-recognized accrediting agency.
���� "Opioid antidote"
means any drug, regardless of dosage amount or method of administration, which
has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for
the treatment of an opioid overdose.� "Opioid antidote includes, but is
not limited to, naloxone hydrochloride, in any dosage amount, which is
administered through nasal spray or any other FDA-approved means or methods.
���� "Prescriber" means a
health care practitioner authorized by law to prescribe medications.�
"Prescriber" includes, but shall not be limited to, physicians,
physician assistants, and advanced practice nurses.
���� "Public library"
means a library that serves, free of charge, all residents of an area without
discrimination and that receives its financial support, in whole or in part,
from public funds.
���� "Public transportation
hub" means a passenger station, terminal, or other facility, as designated
by the Commissioner of Transportation, where public transportation services are
made available.
���� "Recipient" means
any individual who or entity that is prescribed or dispensed an opioid antidote
in accordance with section 4 of P.L.2013, c.46 (C.24:6J-4) or section 1 of
P.L.2017, c.88 (C.45:14-67.2).� The term "recipient" shall include,
but shall not be limited to, private citizens, emergency medical responders,
emergency medical response entities, law enforcement officers, law enforcement
agencies,
county health departments and employees of county health
departments,
recognized places of public access, employees and volunteers
providing services at, through, or on behalf of a recognized place of public
access, public and nonpublic schools, school nurses and other staff at a public
or nonpublic school, sterile syringe access programs, and staff and employees
of a sterile syringe access program.� The term "recipient" shall not
include a prescriber or a licensed pharmacist acting within a professional capacity.
���� "Recognized place of
public access" means a public library, institution of higher education,
occupational school, or public transportation hub.
����
"School" means a
public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school within this State offering
education in grades kindergarten through 12, or any combination of grades, at
which a child may legally fulfill compulsory school attendance requirements. ��School�
shall not include an occupational school.
���� "Sterile syringe access
program" means a program established pursuant to the provisions of
P.L.2006, c.99 (C.26:5C-25 et al.).�
(cf: P.L.2021, c.152, s.2)
���� 2.��� Section 4 of P.L.2013,
c.46 (C.24:6J-4) is amended to read as follows:
���� 4.��� a.� (1) A prescriber or
other health care practitioner, as appropriate, may prescribe or dispense an
opioid antidote directly or through a standing order to any person or entity.�
Any person or entity may be dispensed an opioid antidote pursuant to an individual
prescription or a standing order issued by a prescriber, and any person or
entity may be dispensed an opioid antidote by a pharmacy as provided in section
1 of P.L.2017, c.88 (C.45:14-67.2).
���� (2)� Nothing in P.L.2013, c.46
(C.24:6J-1 et al.) shall be construed to restrict in any way the ability of any
individual or entity to be dispensed an opioid antidote.� The persons and
entities to whom an opioid antidote may be prescribed and dispensed shall include
private citizens, individuals who are dispensed an opioid antidote for
administration or distribution to others in either a private or professional
capacity, entities that are dispensed opioid antidotes on behalf of individuals
who administer or distribute opioid antidotes to others in the course of their
professional duties, and entities other than a prescriber or pharmacist that
maintain a stock of opioid antidotes for distribution or administration to
others.
���� (3)� (Deleted by amendment,
P.L.2021, c.152).
���� (4)� (Deleted by amendment,
P.L.2021, c.152).
���� b.��� (1)� A recipient in
possession of an opioid antidote may administer the opioid antidote to any
other person, without fee, in any situation in which the recipient reasonably
believes the other person to be experiencing an opioid overdose.
���� (2)� A recipient in possession
of an opioid antidote may distribute the opioid antidote, without fee, to any
other person who the recipient reasonably believes to be at risk of
experiencing an opioid overdose or who the recipient reasonably believes will
be in a position to administer the opioid antidote to a person experiencing an
opioid overdose.� A recipient distributing an opioid antidote to another person
pursuant to this paragraph shall make reasonable efforts to furnish the person
with the overdose prevention information described in section 5 of P.L.2013,
c.46 (C.24:6J-5).� The Commissioner of Health, or, if the commissioner is not a
duly licensed physician, the Deputy Commissioner for Public Health Services,
shall issue a standing order authorizing the distribution of opioid antidotes
pursuant to this paragraph.
���� c.��� (1)� A prescriber or
other health care practitioner who prescribes or dispenses an opioid antidote
in good faith, and in accordance with the provisions of this section, shall
not, as a result of the practitioner's acts or omissions, be subject to any criminal
or civil liability, or any professional disciplinary action under Title 45 of
the Revised Statutes, for prescribing or dispensing the opioid antidote.� A
pharmacist that dispenses an opioid antidote in good faith, in accordance with
the provisions of this section or section 1 of P.L.2017, c.88 (C.45:14-67.2),
shall not, as a result of the pharmacist's acts or omissions, be subject to any
criminal or civil liability, or any professional disciplinary action under
Title 45 of the Revised Statutes, for dispensing the opioid antidote.
���� (2)� A recipient who
administers or distributes an opioid antidote in good faith as provided in
subsection b. of this section shall not, as a result of any of the recipient's
acts or omissions, be subject to any criminal or civil liability, or any
professional disciplinary action, for administering or distributing the opioid
antidote.
���� d.��� (Deleted by amendment,
P.L.2021, c.152).
���� e.��� The immunity provided by
this section for persons who are engaged in prescribing, dispensing,
distributing, or administering an opioid antidote shall be coextensive with the
immunity provided under sections 7 and 8 of P.L.2013, c.46 (C.2C:35-30 and
C.2C:35-31), to the extent that the provisions of those sections apply.
���� f.���� (Deleted by amendment,
P.L.2021, c.152).
���� g.��� (Deleted by amendment,
P.L.2021, c.152).
���� h.��� (Deleted by amendment,
P.L.2021, c.152).
����
i.���� (1)� Each county
health department shall obtain, through a standing order, and maintain in an
accessible storage location, a reserve stock of opioid antidotes sufficient to
ensure an uninterrupted supply of opioid antidotes is available to law
enforcement agencies, emergency medical response entities, schools, and
hospital pharmacies operating in the county.� The quantity of opioid antidotes
that are to be kept in reserve stock by each county health department pursuant
to this subsection shall be determined by the director of the 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 law enforcement agencies, emergency medical response entities, school
districts, schools, and hospitals operating in the county.�
����
(2)� In the event that a
law enforcement agency, emergency medical response entity, school, or hospital
pharmacy anticipates that it will exhaust its
supply of opioid antidotes
before it will be able to acquire an additional supply pursuant to a standing
order issued pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the law enforcement
agency, emergency medical response entity, or school may make a request to the
county health department to provide the requester with an interim supply of
opioid antidotes from the county health department�s reserve stock.� Upon
receipt of a request, the county health department shall promptly deliver to
the requester an interim supply of opioid antidotes in a quantity sufficient to
ensure that the requester will be able to continue administering or
distributing opioid antidotes, as applicable, during the interim period between
the date the requester�s supply of opioid antidotes is expected to be exhausted
and the date the requester expects to receive a new stock of opioid antidotes
pursuant to a standing order.
����
(3)� A law enforcement
agency, emergency medical response entity, school, or hospital pharmacy that
obtains an interim supply of opioid antidotes from a county health department�s
reserve stock pursuant to this subsection shall reimburse the county health
department for the department�s actual costs to acquire and deliver the interim
supply.
����
(4)� County health
departments in the State may enter into shared service agreements, in
accordance with the �Uniform Shared Services and Consolidation Act,� sections 1
through 35 of P.L.2007, c.63 (C.40A:65-1 through C.40A:65-35), in order to
facilitate the acquisition of opioid antidotes at discounted rates, minimize
delivery costs, and otherwise facilitate the implementation of this subsection.
�(cf: P.L.2021, c.152, s.3)
���� 3.��� (New section) The Commissioner
of Human Services shall adopt rules and regulations, pursuant to the
�Administrative Procedure Act,� P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as shall
be necessary to implement the provisions of this act.�
���� 4.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� 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 maintain in an accessible storage location, a
reserve stock of opioid antidotes that can be accessed by law enforcement
agencies, emergency medical response entities, schools, and hospital pharmacies
to ensure those entities have access to an uninterrupted supply of opioid
antidotes.� 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 law
enforcement agencies, emergency medical response entities, hospitals, school
districts, and schools operating in that county.�
���� The bill specifies that,
whenever a law enforcement agency, emergency medical 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 county
health department�s 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 is expected to be
exhausted and the date the requester expects to receive a new supply of opioid
antidotes by regular means.
���� Law enforcement agencies, emergency
medical response entities, schools, and hospital pharmacies that obtain an
interim supply of opioid antidotes from a county health department�s 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, and otherwise facilitate the implementation of
the provisions of the bill.