Opioid overdose prevention bill introduced in New York

Senator Kemp Hannon (R-Nassau) and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx) introduced an opioid overdose prevention bill (S.6744/A.8637), legislation that would help prevent accidental opioid overdoses and save the lives of thousands of New Yorkers by expanding access to the opioid antidote naloxone. More than 2,000 New Yorkers die each year from opioid overdose, with heroin and prescription pain medications involved in most of those deaths. Naloxone, if administered during an overdose, effectively and safely reverses the overdose and saves lives. In fact, a 2010 CDC report credits overdose education and naloxone distribution programs with more than 10,000 documented overdose reversals since 1996.

"It has been estimated that heroin addiction on Long Island has increased nearly fourfold since 2011,” said Senator Kemp Hannon (R-Nassau). “This alarming statistic demonstrates the need for a comprehensive approach to addressing the state’s drug crisis. Ensuring families have access to naloxone is the next necessary step.”

Accidental drug overdose is the number one cause of accidental death in New York, exceeding even motor vehicle accidents. Studies show that most overdoses are witnessed, and there is a 1-3 hour window in which an opioid overdose can be reversed, making many deaths preventable. Naloxone, when administered in a timely fashion, has proven to be a highly successful tool in saving lives. In the recent 2013 National Drug Control Strategy report, the Obama administration noted the importance of increasing widespread availability to Naloxone, citing research around the efficacy of the life-saving tool and the need to equip health care providers and first responders, like police officers, with the antidote.

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