Bill would expands access to opioid overdose reversal drugs

U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn is introducing legislation to expand the availability of opioid overdose reversal medication.

Nunn, a Republican who represents Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, unveiled the legislation at a news conference Monday at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines.

“Any death from an overdose is one death too many,” Nunn said, citing state data that reported 398 overdose deaths in Iowa in 2021.

The bill, known as the Overdose Reversal Medication Act, would expand a federal grant program to make businesses, individuals and community organizations eligible to receive grant money for overdose reversal medications such as naloxone.

The bill would also direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to create a standard for training employees on how to use the overdose reversal medicine and for storing the medicine.

Dr. Clint Hawthorne, medical director of UnityPoint Des Moines’ emergency department, said the idea is to get the medicine out into the community so it can be immediately available to someone who overdoses, even before first responders arrive.

“Seconds matter in these scenarios where patients have accidentally overdosed,” Hawthorne said. “Sometimes, those seconds between when a professional medical provider can arrive on the scene and when the administration of this medication can be given is too late.”

The bill is cosponsored by Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona.

Iowa and the federal government have taken steps this year to combat opioid overdoses.

At the state level, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a law in May making opioid overdose reversal drugs more easily available to law enforcement agencies, school districts, local health departments and fire departments. The law also imposes stronger sentences for those convicted of manufacturing, delivering or possessing fentanyl.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced March 29 that it was making Narcan, a naloxone nasal spray, available over the counter without a prescription.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.