COLUMBIA, SC (WBTW) – Legislation giving drug addicts easier access to opioid antidotes and another bill to track use of the antidotes passed Wednesday in the South Carolina House. Both bills were referred to committee in the state Senate.
The bills originated in the South Carolina House Opioid Abuse Prevention Study Committee, which was tasked with identifying legislative solutions to the opioid epidemic. Local lawmakers on the committee included Rep. Terry Alexander of Florence and Rep. Russell Fry of Horry County.
The committee found an increase in attempts to reverse opioid overdoses with antidotes like naloxone. In 2013, first responders attempted 4,600 reversals. The number of reversals jumped to 6,400 in 2016.
“The loss of life in 2016 would have been far greater without the administration of naloxone by emergency medical services personnel and law enforcement,” the committee said.
The committee recommended legislation to give “greater accessibility to these lifesaving drugs” by allowing “community organizations” to give the antidotes to people at risk of overdosing or their caregivers. A community organization could be a group that provides services like counseling, homeless services, alcohol and drug screening, and treatment to people at risk of opioid-related overdoses.
The bill passed Wednesday 100-0. The state would have to develop rules for getting the antidote to community organizations if the bill becomes law.
Pharmacists are already allowed to dispense naloxone without a prescription. “However, those suffering from addiction are frequently unwilling or unable to purchase the medication from a pharmacy,” the committee’s report said.
Another bill that moved forward Wednesday requires tracking use of opioid antidotes with the state’s prescription monitoring program. Hospitals and first responders would have to submit information about a person who received the antidote.
“The administration of an opioid overdose antidote indicates a potential crisis and presents the need for immediate referral to treatment,” the committee wrote in its report proposing the legislation. The legislation would require doctors to review any “incidents in which the patient has been administered an opioid antidote by a first responder or in an emergency healthcare setting.
Altogether, the committee recommended more than a dozen pieces of legislation, which you can read here in the committee’s report.
