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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Opioid Overdose Re-
duction Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Overdoses from opioids have increased dra-
matically in the United States. 
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(2) Deaths from drug overdose, largely from 
prescription pain relievers, have tripled among men 
and increased fivefold among women over the past 
decade. 
(3) Nationwide, drug overdoses now claim more 
lives than car accidents. 
(4) Overdose deaths from heroin and other 
opioids can be prevented if the person who overdosed 
is timely administered an opioid overdose drug. 
(5) Medical personnel as well as non-medical 
personnel can be trained to administer opioid over-
dose drugs safely and effectively. 
(6) On April 13, 2014, the Food and Drug Ad-
ministration approved a prescription opioid overdose 
drug hand-held auto-injector for use by family mem-
bers and caregivers to treat a person known or sus-
pected to have had an opioid overdose. 
(7) Several States, including Massachusetts, 
have established programs allowing for the adminis-
tration of opioid overdose drugs by non-medical per-
sonnel, and those programs have saved lives. 
(8) The willingness of medical and non-medical 
personnel to administer opioid overdose drugs may 
be deterred by potential civil liability, and the will-
ingness of physicians to prescribe opioid overdose 
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drugs to persons other than a patient may also be 
deterred by potential civil liability. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to save 
the lives of people who intentionally or inadvertently over-
dose on heroin or other opioids by providing certain pro-
tections from civil liability with respect to the emergency 
administration of opioid overdose drugs. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘health care professional’’ means 
a person licensed by a State to prescribe prescription 
drugs; 
(2) the term ‘‘opioid overdose drug’’ means a 
drug that, when administered, reverses in whole or 
part the pharmacological effects of an opioid over-
dose in the human body; and 
(3) the term ‘‘opioid overdose program’’ means 
a program operated by a local health department, 
community-based 
organization, 
substance 
abuse 
treatment organization, law enforcement agency, fire 
department, other first responder department, or 
voluntary association or a program funded by a Fed-
eral, State, or local government that works to pre-
vent opioid overdoses by in part providing opioid 
overdose drugs and education to individuals at risk 
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of experiencing an opioid overdose or to an indi-
vidual in a position to assist another individual at 
risk of experiencing an opioid overdose. 
SEC. 4. PREEMPTION AND ELECTION OF STATE NON-
APPLICABILITY. 
(a) PREEMPTION.—Except as provided in subsection 
(b), this Act preempts the law of a State to the extent 
that such law is inconsistent with this Act, except that 
this Act shall not preempt any State law that provides 
additional protection from liability relating to the adminis-
tration of opioid overdose drugs or that shields from liabil-
ity any person who provides or administers opioid overdose 
drugs. 
(b) ELECTION OF STATE REGARDING NONAPPLICA-
BILITY.—Sections 5, 6, and 7 shall not apply to any civil 
action in a State court against a person who administers 
opioid overdose drugs if— 
(1) all parties to the civil action are citizens of 
the State in which such action is brought; and 
(2) the State enacts legislation in accordance 
with State requirements for enacting legislation— 
(A) citing the authority of this subsection; 
(B) declaring the election of the State that 
such sections 5, 6, and 7 shall not apply, as of 
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a date certain, to any civil actions covered by 
this Act; and 
(C) containing no other provisions. 
SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON CIVIL LIABILITY FOR HEALTH 
CARE PROFESSIONALS WHO PROVIDE OPIOID 
OVERDOSE DRUGS. 
(a) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, a health care professional who pre-
scribes or provides an opioid overdose drug to an in-
dividual at risk of experiencing an opioid overdose, 
or who prescribed or provided an opioid overdose 
drug to a family member, friend, or other individual 
in a position to assist an individual at risk of experi-
encing an opioid overdose, shall not be liable for 
harm caused by the use of the opioid overdose drug 
if the individual to whom such drug is prescribed or 
provided has been educated in accordance with para-
graph (2) about opioid overdose prevention and 
treatment by the health care professional or as part 
of an opioid overdose program. 
(2) EDUCATION
REQUIREMENTS.—For pur-
poses of paragraph (1), an individual who has been 
educated in accordance with this paragraph shall 
have been trained on— 
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(A) when to administer the opioid overdose 
drug; 
(B) how to administer the opioid overdose 
drug; and 
(C) the steps that need to be taken after 
administration of the opioid overdose drug. 
(b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 
a health care professional if the harm was caused by the 
gross negligence or reckless misconduct of the health care 
professional. 
SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON CIVIL LIABILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS 
WORKING FOR OR VOLUNTEERING AT A 
STATE OR LOCAL AGENCY OPIOID OVERDOSE 
PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, except as provided in subsection (b), no indi-
vidual who provides an opioid overdose drug shall be liable 
for harm caused by the emergency administration of an 
opioid overdose drug by another individual if the indi-
vidual who provides such drug— 
(1) works for or volunteers at an opioid over-
dose program; and 
(2) provides the opioid overdose drug as part of 
the opioid overdose program to an individual author-
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ized by the program to receive an opioid overdose 
drug. 
(b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply if 
the harm was caused by the gross negligence or reckless 
misconduct of the individual who provides the drug. 
SEC. 7. LIMITATION ON CIVIL LIABILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS 
WHO ADMINISTER OPIOID OVERDOSE DRUGS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, except as provided in subsection (b), no indi-
vidual shall be liable for harm caused by the emergency 
administration of an opioid overdose drug to an individual 
who has or reasonably appears to have suffered an over-
dose from heroin or other opioid, if— 
(1) the individual who administers the opioid 
overdose drug— 
(A) obtained the drug from a health care 
professional or as part of an opioid overdose 
program; or 
(B) is doing so pursuant to a prescription 
for an opioid overdose drug in accordance with 
section 503(b)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, 
and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 353(b)(1)) or is 
licensed under section 351 of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 262); and 
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(2) was educated in accordance with section 
5(a)(2) by the health care professional or an opioid 
overdose program. 
(b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 
an individual if the harm was caused by the gross neg-
ligence or reckless misconduct of the individual who ad-
ministers the drug. 
Æ 
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