State lawmakers have agreed to add a few extra words to the Indiana Code to help ensure more Hoosier students can access emergency medication at school that's capable of reversing an opioid drug overdose.
The Indiana Senate voted 49-0 Tuesday to send House Enrolled Act 1376 to Republican Gov. Mike Braun to be signed into law. It also passed the House, 91-0, in February.
The legislation permits schools to keep on hand, and dispense in an emergency, any opioid reversal medication, including nasal sprays, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, instead of specifying Naloxone as the only opioid reversal drug schools can stock.
Under the plan, each school can decide whether to keep on hand Naloxone products or a different opioid overdose reversal drug.
State Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton, the sponsor, said law enforcement nationwide seized more than 115 million pills containing fentanyl in 2023, including many made to look like other prescription medications.
"Any pills that are given to somebody by a friend, purchased on social media, or received by any other source other than a pharmacy could potentially be deadly," Pol said.
"In the horrible event that these end up in any of your schools, the emergency medication that would be allowed to be administered would be applicable and you could potentially save lives in your community."
State Rep. Pat Boy, D-Michigan City, the House sponsor, noted some 75,000 Americans died in 2022 as a result of an opioid overdose.
While making opioid overdose reversal medication more accessible is an important step, Boy said she remains "absolutely committed to finding solutions that will end the needless loss of life caused by opioid overdoses in Indiana."