Epinephrine Bill Discussed

A fed­eral Con­gres­sional bill is in the works to offer finan­cial incen­tives to states to stock­pile epi­neph­rine at schools.

Epi­neph­rine is used for severe aller­gic reac­tions to food aller­gies and insect bites — the type of reac­tion that can cause death in an aller­gic per­son. Epi­neph­rine is given to the aller­gic per­son by a pre­loaded EpiPen or a sim­i­lar device.

The CDC recently issued vol­un­tary guide­lines to schools on how to pro­tect chil­dren with food aller­gies. Those guide­lines include restrict­ing foods that can cause aller­gic reac­tions and mak­ing epi­neph­rine avail­able for use in an emer­gency.

There are a few states that require their schools to have sup­plies of epi­neph­rine on hand, but Ohio is not one of them.

In the Defi­ance school sys­tem, a spokesman said there is no “stock­pile of epi­neph­rine.“

In the Napoleon school sys­tem, also no sup­ply of epi­neph­rine is kept avail­able.

Ohio House Bill 296 has leg­is­la­tion that would ensure all Ohio schools main­tain an emer­gency sup­ply of epi­neph­rine. Until a new Ohio law is signed, at the present time edu­ca­tors, admin­is­tra­tors and “Good Samar­i­tans” are not allowed to use an EpiPen in the event of an emer­gency unless the stu­dent need­ing help has a prescription.adequate.