2021 Minnesota Statutes

604A.04 GOOD SAMARITAN OVERDOSE PREVENTION.

Subdivision 1.Definitions; opiate antagonist.

For purposes of this section, "opiate antagonist" means naloxone hydrochloride or any similarly acting drug approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of a drug overdose.

Subd. 2.Authority to possess and administer opiate antagonists; release from liability.

(a) A person who is not a health care professional may possess or administer an opiate antagonist that is prescribed, dispensed, or distributed by a licensed health care professional pursuant to subdivision 3.

(b) A person who is not a health care professional who acts in good faith in administering an opiate antagonist to another person whom the person believes in good faith to be suffering a drug overdose is immune from criminal prosecution for the act and is not liable for any civil damages for acts or omissions resulting from the act.

Subd. 3.Health care professionals; release from liability.

A licensed health care professional who is permitted by law to prescribe an opiate antagonist, if acting in good faith, may directly or by standing order prescribe, dispense, distribute, or administer an opiate antagonist to a person without being subject to civil liability or criminal prosecution for the act. This immunity applies even when the opiate antagonist is eventually administered in either or both of the following instances: (1) by someone other than the person to whom it is prescribed; or (2) to someone other than the person to whom it is prescribed.

History:

2014 c 232 s 3