A bill that would allow schools to obtain and administer auto-injectable epinephrine in the event of a student having a food allergy attack has cleared committee and is on its way to the General Assembly this week.
While it hasn't gotten a lot of press attention and isn't shrouded in controversy, SB453 is designed to protect children at school if they suffer from a food allergy attack or are stung by a bee and have an allergic reaction.
SB453 allows physicians to write a prescription for a epinephrine auto injector (also known 'Epi-pen') to the school itself so that life-saving medication is available to any student that has a severe allergic reaction, called anyphylaxis.
Bill supporter Kacey Larsen, a Carson City Registered Nurse and her three-year-old daughter Sydney, were among several who testified in front of the state's Health and Human Services Committee in support of the legislation. Sydney has a food allergy and on a couple of occasions — one in which she was stung by a bee — needed the use of an Epi-pen after having an allergic reaction.
Larsen explained that most children with food allergies already have access to the medication via a prescription from their doctor. SB453 is an added safeguard for children who have a first-time reaction because of undiagnosed allergies to food or bees.
"One of the best things about this bill is that the drug manufacturer-Mylan has promised to pay for the cost of the drug through the 2013 and the 2014 school year, and are working on extending the program for several more years," she said.
"My daughter is living proof that Epi-pens are life-saving. This bill will help not only those children with known food allergies, but those children with undiagnosed and unknown allergies (food or otherwise) that results in a first time anaphylactic reaction," Larsen said in her testimony.
Nearly six million American children have food allergies and are at risk of anaphylaxis, a systemic allergic reaction that can kill someone within minutes. To prevent a death, anaphylaxis has to be treated immediately. Waiting for someone else to help sometimes isn’t an option. Sometimes, just a slight delay in response time can be just too long, she said in her testimony.
“Too long” in this case is a matter of life and death. SB453 would allow the State of Nevada to ensure that epinephrine is available in schools and that school personnel are trained to administer it in an emergency. Epinephrine is safe and easy to administer, she told the committee.
Read Larsen's full testimony attached below and go here for others who testified on behalf of the bill. Action should be taken on it sometime this week.