I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4955 

To provide certain protections from civil liability with respect to the emergency 

administration of opioid overdose drugs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 6, 2018 

Mr. NEAL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide certain protections from civil liability with respect 

to the emergency administration of opioid overdose drugs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Opioid Overdose Re5 duction Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Overdoses from opioids have increased dra9 matically in the United States. 


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1 (2) Deaths from drug overdose, largely from 

2 prescription pain relievers, have tripled among men 

3 and increased fivefold among women over the past 

4 decade. 

5 (3) Nationwide, drug overdoses now claim more 

6 lives than car accidents. 

7 (4) Overdose deaths from heroin and other 

8 opioids can be prevented if the person who overdosed 

9 is timely administered an opioid overdose drug. 

10 (5) Medical personnel as well as non-medical 

11 personnel can be trained to administer opioid over12 dose drugs safely and effectively. 

13 (6) On April 13, 2014, the Food and Drug Ad14 ministration approved a prescription opioid overdose 

15 drug hand-held auto-injector for use by family mem16 bers and caregivers to treat a person known or sus17 pected to have had an opioid overdose. 

18 (7) Several States, including Massachusetts, 

19 have established programs allowing for the adminis20 tration of opioid overdose drugs by non-medical per21 sonnel, and those programs have saved lives. 

22 (8) The willingness of medical and non-medical 

23 personnel to administer opioid overdose drugs may 

24 be deterred by potential civil liability, and the will25 ingness of physicians to prescribe opioid overdose 


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1 drugs to persons other than a patient may also be 

2 deterred by potential civil liability. 

3 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to save 

4 the lives of people who intentionally or inadvertently over5 dose on heroin or other opioids by providing certain pro6 tections from civil liability with respect to the emergency 

7 administration of opioid overdose drugs. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act— 

10 (1) the term ‘‘health care professional’’ means 

11 a person licensed by a State to prescribe prescription 

12 drugs; 

13 (2) the term ‘‘opioid overdose drug’’ means a 

14 drug that, when administered, reverses in whole or 

15 part the pharmacological effects of an opioid over16 dose in the human body; and 

17 (3) the term ‘‘opioid overdose program’’ means 

18 a program operated by a local health department, 

19 community-based organization, substance abuse 

20 treatment organization, law enforcement agency, fire 

21 department, other first responder department, or 

22 voluntary association or a program funded by a Fed23 eral, State, or local government that works to pre24 vent opioid overdoses by in part providing opioid 

25 overdose drugs and education to individuals at risk 


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1 of experiencing an opioid overdose or to an indi2 vidual in a position to assist another individual at 

3 risk of experiencing an opioid overdose. 

4 SEC. 4. PREEMPTION AND ELECTION OF STATE NON5 APPLICABILITY. 

6 (a) PREEMPTION.—Except as provided in subsection 

7 (b), this Act preempts the law of a State to the extent 

8 that such law is inconsistent with this Act, except that 

9 this Act shall not preempt any State law that provides 

10 additional protection from liability relating to the adminis11 tration of opioid overdose drugs or that shields from liabil12 ity any person who provides or administers opioid overdose 

13 drugs. 

14 (b) ELECTION OF STATE REGARDING NONAPPLICA15 BILITY.—Sections 5, 6, and 7 shall not apply to any civil 

16 action in a State court against a person who administers 

17 opioid overdose drugs if— 

18 (1) all parties to the civil action are citizens of 

19 the State in which such action is brought; and 

20 (2) the State enacts legislation in accordance 

21 with State requirements for enacting legislation— 

22 (A) citing the authority of this subsection; 

23 (B) declaring the election of the State that 

24 such sections 5, 6, and 7 shall not apply, as of 


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1 a date certain, to any civil actions covered by 

2 this Act; and 

3 (C) containing no other provisions. 

4 SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON CIVIL LIABILITY FOR HEALTH 

5 CARE PROFESSIONALS WHO PROVIDE OPIOID 

6 OVERDOSE DRUGS. 

7 (a) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

9 provision of law, a health care professional who pre10 scribes or provides an opioid overdose drug to an in11 dividual at risk of experiencing an opioid overdose, 

12 or who prescribed or provided an opioid overdose 

13 drug to a family member, friend, or other individual 

14 in a position to assist an individual at risk of experi15 encing an opioid overdose, shall not be liable for 

16 harm caused by the use of the opioid overdose drug 

17 if the individual to whom such drug is prescribed or 

18 provided has been educated in accordance with para19 graph (2) about opioid overdose prevention and 

20 treatment by the health care professional or as part 

21 of an opioid overdose program. 

22 (2) EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS.—For pur23 poses of paragraph (1), an individual who has been 

24 educated in accordance with this paragraph shall 

25 have been trained on— 


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1 (A) when to administer the opioid overdose 

2 drug; 

3 (B) how to administer the opioid overdose 

4 drug; and 

5 (C) the steps that need to be taken after 

6 administration of the opioid overdose drug. 

7 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 

8 a health care professional if the harm was caused by the 

9 gross negligence or reckless misconduct of the health care 

10 professional. 

11 SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON CIVIL LIABILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS 

12 WORKING FOR OR VOLUNTEERING AT A 

13 STATE OR LOCAL AGENCY OPIOID OVERDOSE 

14 PROGRAM. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi16 sion of law, except as provided in subsection (b), no indi17 vidual who provides an opioid overdose drug shall be liable 

18 for harm caused by the emergency administration of an 

19 opioid overdose drug by another individual if the indi20 vidual who provides such drug— 

21 (1) works for or volunteers at an opioid over22 dose program; and 

23 (2) provides the opioid overdose drug as part of 

24 the opioid overdose program to an individual authorVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Feb 09, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4955.IH H4955

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1 ized by the program to receive an opioid overdose 

2 drug. 

3 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply if 

4 the harm was caused by the gross negligence or reckless 

5 misconduct of the individual who provides the drug. 

6 SEC. 7. LIMITATION ON CIVIL LIABILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS 

7 WHO ADMINISTER OPIOID OVERDOSE DRUGS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi9 sion of law, except as provided in subsection (b), no indi10 vidual shall be liable for harm caused by the emergency 

11 administration of an opioid overdose drug to an individual 

12 who has or reasonably appears to have suffered an over13 dose from heroin or other opioid, if— 

14 (1) the individual who administers the opioid 

15 overdose drug— 

16 (A) obtained the drug from a health care 

17 professional or as part of an opioid overdose 

18 program; or 

19 (B) is doing so pursuant to a prescription 

20 for an opioid overdose drug in accordance with 

21 section 503(b)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, 

22 and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 353(b)(1)) or is 

23 licensed under section 351 of the Public Health 

24 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 262); and 


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1 (2) was educated in accordance with section 

2 5(a)(2) by the health care professional or an opioid 

3 overdose program. 

4 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 

5 an individual if the harm was caused by the gross neg6 ligence or reckless misconduct of the individual who ad7 ministers the drug. 

Æ 


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