Sponsors (7)
Introduced July 22, 2025 by Joseph Neguse · Last progress July 22, 2025
The bill strengthens Good Samaritan protections, training, and data-driven targeting to increase timely overdose help and save lives, but it leaves gaps (warrant/exposure and liability exceptions), raises privacy risks from data collection, and imposes administrative and funding trade-offs for states and taxpayers.
People who administer opioid reversal drugs and people who call 911 for an overdose are more likely to seek or provide timely help because the bill extends civil immunity and limits certain prosecutions/forfeiture for those acting in good faith.
People at risk of overdose and the public will receive coordinated outreach and training so more callers and responders know legal protections and how to use naloxone, increasing the likelihood of timely medical responses and fewer fatalities.
State and local governments (and grant programs) will get standardized definitions, better data-sharing with HHS, and evidence-based recommendations so resources and grants can be targeted more effectively toward programs that increase overdose reporting and save lives.
People seeking help for an overdose may face privacy risks because the bill authorizes collection and sharing of call-level and individual-level data with federal/state entities, which could deter some from calling if data are not fully de-identified and secured.
People who fear law enforcement or have outstanding warrants may still avoid seeking help because the bill includes law enforcement among entities involved in 'seek medical assistance' responses and preserves exceptions where prosecution or arrest can occur (e.g., outstanding warrants).
Some communities—especially rural areas relying on non-FDA-approved or locally compounded naloxone—could be left without protection because the bill ties covered products to FDA approval and interstate-commerce criteria, potentially limiting access to certain reversal drugs.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Provides federal Good Samaritan protections for people who administer opioid overdose reversal drugs and for people who seek or assist in getting medical help for suspected overdoses. It limits civil liability and certain criminal penalties, directs a federal public awareness campaign, allows use of certain public health grant funds for outreach and training about state overdose Good Samaritan laws, and requires a GAO study of how these laws and campaigns work in practice.