CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 34-16

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                 , 2016

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2392

       S.D. 2

       H.D. 3

       C.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

 

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

 

Sirs:

 

     Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 2392, S.D. 2, H.D. 3, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO OPIOID ANTAGONISTS,"

 

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

 

     The purpose of this measure is to promote the responsible use of opioid antagonists to treat drug overdoses by, among other things:

 

     (1)  Providing immunity for health care professionals and pharmacists who prescribe, dispense, or distribute, and any persons who administer, an opioid antagonist such as naloxone hydrochloride to persons experiencing or at risk of experiencing an opioid-related drug overdose;

 

     (2)  Beginning on January 1, 2017, authorizing emergency personnel and first responders to administer opioid antagonists to a person believed to be suffering from opioid-related drug overdose;

 

     (3)  Requiring Medicaid coverage for opioid antagonists;

 

     (4)  Allowing harm reduction organizations to store and distribute opioid antagonists under certain circumstances; and

 

     (5)  Requiring the Department of Health to provide education and training related to opioid-related drug overdose prevention, recognition, and response, including opioid antagonist administration.

 

     Your Committee on Conference finds that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overdoses involving prescription painkillers are at epidemic levels.  However, deaths caused by opioids are often preventable via timely administration of an opioid antagonist.  As a result, over half of the states in the country have enacted some form of a 911 drug immunity law or have implemented a law or developed a pilot program to allow administration of medication, like naloxone hydrochloride, to reverse the effects of an opioid-related overdose.  Studies have found that providing opioid overdose training and naloxone kits can help people identify signs of an opioid-related drug overdose and can help reduce opioid-related overdose mortality.

 

     Your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Deleting language that would have required the Department of Health to monitor adverse drug reaction to opioid antagonist use by requiring hospital emergency departments to report to the Department all adverse drug reactions occurring after administration of an opioid antagonist; and

 

     (2)  Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2392, S.D. 2, H.D. 3, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2392, S.D. 2, H.D. 3, C.D. 1.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

 

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

 

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

 

____________________________

DELLA AU BELATTI, Co-Chair

 

___________________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

____________________________

ANGUS L.K. MCKELVEY, Co-Chair

 

___________________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Co-Chair

____________________________

KARL RHOADS, Co-Chair

 

___________________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Co-Chair

____________________________

SYLVIA LUKE, Co-Chair