BILL NUMBER:S5019

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the public health law, in relation to
requiring the presence of epinephrine auto-injector devices on
pre-school premises and on restaurant premises

PURPOSE:

To require epinephrine auto-injectors (Epi-Pen) devices at pre-schools
and restaurants.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section One of the bill amends Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of
section 3000-c of the public health law, as amended by chapter 350 of
the laws of 2001 to add pre-schools and restaurants to the list of
entities authorized to keep Epi-Pens on premises.

EXISTING LAW:

Currently, Epi-Pens are not required at pre-school and restaurants.

JUSTIFICATION:

According to the New York State Department of Health (DOH), more than
2 million Americans suffer from anaphylaxis, a severe, potentially
              

life-threatening allergic reaction the main causes of which are insect
stings or ingesting food or medication to which an individual is
allergic. DOH notes that the allergic individual's best chance of
survival is an immediate injection of the medication epinephrine to
counteract the body's allergic response.

In 1999, Governor Pataki signed the Epinephrine Auto-Injector Device
Law, which allows specially trained staff in children's day,
overnight, and traveling camps to use an epinephrine auto-injector
device in life threatening emergencies. An epinephrine auto-injector
is an easy-to-use, pencil-like needle that injects a premeasured dose
of epinephrine into someone having an anaphylactic reaction.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, from 1997 to
2007, the prevalence of reported food allergies increased 18% among
children under age 18 years. According ton "Increasing anaphylaxis
hospitalizations in the first 2 decades of life: New York State, 1990
-2006" published in the October 2008, Annals of Allergy, Asthma &
Immunology, "For patients younger than 20 years, the anaphylaxis
hospitalization rate increased by more than 4-fold during the study
period."

Give the increasing prevalence of Americans susceptible to severe food
allergies, it only makes sense to expand the potential availability of
epinephrine auto-injector devices to pre-school facilities and
restaurants, where individuals may inadvertently be exposed to foods
to which they have an anaphylactic reaction.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill


FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Minimal

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall become
law.