The State Education Department is proposing changes to the guidelines for administering EpiPens.
The changes would allow for emergency epinephrine auto-injectors, based on requests from parents, healthcare providers, schools and the Department of Health for technical amendments.
"Epinephrine injections can save the lives of children and adults in schools across the state," said Board of Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa. "These proposed regulations would ease the burden on school districts so they can safely use these medical devices in emergencies."
The proposed amendments to emergency epinephrine use include to:
- change the definition of epinephrine auto-injector devices to comply with the definition in the new law
- take away the requirement for a school district to enter an agreement with an emergency helath care provider to purchase, acquire, possess and use epinephrine auto-injectors
- no longer require school districts to report every time an epinephrine auto-injector to an emergency health care provider
"We've heard from healthcare providers and parents alike that our health regulations need updating - both to reduce regulatory burdens to providing emergency care in schools and to make technical changes," said State Education Department Commissioner MaryEllen Elia. "With these commonsense changes, we make it easier for children to receive emergency epinephrine shots when needed and align medical screening requirements with national recommendations."
A Notice of Proposed Rule Making will be published in the State Register on January 25. It will be open to public comment until March 13. The hope is that the proposed law will then be presented for permanent adoption by the Board of Regents at a meeting in April. If adopted, the changes will become effective for the following school year, beginning July 1.
