Quinn’s Good Samaritan Bill Addressing New Opioid Overdose Reversal Drugs Signed into Law
HARRISBURG – State Rep. Chris Quinn’s (R-Delaware) bill to improve the fight against the opioid epidemic was signed into law today.
Gov. Tom Wolf signed
House Bill 2527 into law as
Act 135 of 2022 in a ceremony on Thursday. The bill extends Good Samaritan protections for the use of new opioid overdose reversal drugs in advance of their anticipated approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“I am grateful Gov. Wolf signed this important legislation into law that will help Pennsylvania fight his crippling epidemic that has impacted far too many families,” Quinn said.
Good Samaritan laws provide immunity from civil damages for personal injuries, even including death, that result from ordinary negligence. In 2014, the General Assembly passed Act 139, providing legal immunity to those who administer naloxone, commonly known by its trade name, Narcan. Quinn’s legislation (House Bill 2527) passed the House unanimously in June and substitutes “opioid antagonist” for “naloxone” in statute.
According to the CDC, drug overdoses rose 31% nationally in the most recent year for which there is complete data, 2020, to almost 92,000.
In a four-year period ending this January, the PA Department of Health reported more than 67,000 doses of Narcan were administered by EMS. Quinn noted these figures do not consider the many doses administered by others.
“These drugs have saved lives, and as medicine evolves our laws must keep pace,” Quinn said. “I am proud of this bipartisan legislation that will unquestionably save lives.”
Representative Chris Quinn
168th District, Pennsylvania House of Representatives
RepChrisQuinn.com / Facebook.com/RepChrisQuinn
Media Contact: Rene Morrow
rmorrow@pahousegop.com
717-260-6273