BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 1535
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 30, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                    AB 1535 (Bloom) - As Amended:  April 1, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                              Business and  
          Professions  Vote:                            14-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill permits a pharmacist to furnish naloxone hydrochloride  
          (NH) pursuant to standardized procedures and protocols developed  
          and approved jointly by the California Board of Pharmacy (BOP)  
          and the Medical Board of California (MBC).

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)Minor one-time costs, under $100,000, to the MBC and to the  
            BOP to jointly develop standardized procedures and protocols  
            and related training and educational content. 

          2)Ongoing costs to both boards for enforcement are likely to be  
            minor and absorbable.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . This bill allows a pharmacist to furnish NH to a  
            person at risk of an opioid-related overdose or to a family  
            member, friend, or other person in a position to assist a  
            person experiencing or reasonably suspected of experiencing an  
            overdose, pursuant to standardized procedures or protocols  
            developed and approved by BOP and MBC.  According to the  
            author, allowing pharmacists to furnish NH will enable the  
            wider distribution of a safe, easy-to-administer and  
            life-saving drug in accordance with recommendations from the  
            United States Department of Health and Human Services.  This  
            bill is sponsored by the Drug Policy Alliance and supported by  
            numerous public health and substance abuse organizations, as  
            well as the MBC and BOP.









                                                                  AB 1535
                                                                  Page  2

           2)Background  . The federal Centers for Disease Control and  
            Prevention reports overdose deaths from prescription  
            painkillers have skyrocketed over the past decade, with the  
            majority of these deaths caused by opioid pain relievers.   
            According to the federal Food and Drug Administration, NH is a  
            safe medication that rapidly reverses the effects of opioid  
            overdose.  Because it blocks opioid receptors, injection with  
            NH is potentially life-savings for someone experiencing an  
            overdose but causes no noticeable clinical effect if a person  
            is not experiencing an overdose.  Earlier this month, FDA  
            announced approval of a naloxone auto-injector device for  
            layperson use. 

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916) 319-2081