Nevada bill would mandate overdose meds at schools, nix Rx

Drugs that can counter the effects of an opioid overdose would be available without a prescription and required at all Nevada public schools under a bill introduced Monday.

Members of the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee are responding to an opioid epidemic that federal estimates say has killed at least 165,000 Americans since 2000, including minors who turned to the drugs for recreation or pain relief.

Opioids are highly addictive, deadly and among the most widely prescribed drugs: OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet. Heroin is also an opioid.

Assembly Bill 428 would mandate public and charter schools keep at least two doses of naloxone hydrochloride or other emergency opioid medications on site.

It would also allow pharmacists to dispense the medication to any individuals without a prescription, which is currently required in Nevada.

Other states have recently required or authorized schools to maintain the antidote alongside epinephrine pens and inhalers.

The bill to expand access to the antidote was among dozens of bills published in a flurry of new legislation ahead of a midnight deadline.

Senate Democrats want to give state employees the right to organize and negotiate wages, overtime, leave and workplace conditions under a new proposal seeking a state workers union.

Senate Bill 486 would have Nevada join 22 other states that allow their employees to unionize. It’s sponsored by the Legislature’s majority party, but would face a steep hurdle at the desk of Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval.

Another proposal introduced Monday would require physicians to cut off life support within 24 hours of a patient being declared brain-dead — with or without family consent.

The final deadline to publish bills applied specifically to legislative committees, meaning they had either the blessing of a Democratic committee leader or came directly from a state agency.

The final additions put the total number of bills this session at more than 1,000; about 1,400 were requested.