Senate Bill No. 497

(By Senators Stollings, Prezioso, Williams, Facemire, Gaunch, D. Hall, Laird and Snyder)

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[Introduced February 16, 2015; referred to the Committee on Health and Human Resources; and then to the Committee on the Judiciary.]

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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §16-46-7, relating to permitting school nurses to possess and administer opioid antagonists on or near school premises.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

            That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §16-46-7, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 46. ACCESS TO OPIOID ANTAGONISTS ACT.

§16-46-7. School nurse access to opioid antagonists.

            Any person employed as a school nurse and properly licensed by the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses may possess an opioid antagonist on or near school premises and administer the opioid antagonist if he or she believes in good faith that a student or other individual at the school is suffering from an opiate-related overdose.

            NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow school nurses to possess and administer opioid antagonists at school.

            This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.