Unintentional drug overdose is a leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Administering naloxone hydrochloride (“naloxone”) can reverse an opioid overdose and prevent unintentional death. Since 2001, states have enacted naloxone laws to increase access, simplify prescribing and dispensing by health care providers, and encourage its use by individuals in a position to assist a person experiencing a drug overdose.
As of July 1, 2017, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have enacted a naloxone access law, though the authority and protection afforded by these laws varies across the country. This dataset focuses on state laws that provide civil, criminal or professional disciplinary immunity to licensed health care providers for prescribing or dispensing naloxone. The dataset also captures state laws that provide civil or criminal immunity for lay responders administering naloxone as well as laws that allow for third-party prescribing to provide naloxone to family members or friends of a person who is experiencing or is expected to be experiencing a drug overdose. Finally, this dataset also identifies the different mechanisms that states use to enable pharmacists to dispense naloxone without a patient-specific prescription, including standing orders, protocol orders, collaborative practice agreements, and pharmacist prescribing authority. This dataset was updated with support from the Opioid Research Workgroup from the University of Florida.
This is a longitudinal dataset displaying laws from January 1, 2001 through January 1, 2022.