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S. 3980 - The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act of 2006
What The Bill Does
- Helps assure that schools can safely manage students with life-threatening food allergies
- Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, to develop and make available to local educational agencies a voluntary policy to manage the risk of food allergy and anaphylaxis in schools.
- Directs that such policy address: (1) a parental obligation to provide the school with information regarding a student's food allergy and anaphylaxis; (2) communication strategies between schools and emergency medical services; (3) strategies to reduce the risk of exposure in classrooms and common areas; (4) food allergy management training of school personnel; (5) authorization of school personnel to administer epinephrine when the school nurse is not immediately available; and (6) creation of an individual health care plan tailored to each child's risk for anaphylaxis.
- Provides for school-based food allergy management incentive grants to local educational agencies to assist such agencies with adoption and implementation of food allergy management guidelines in public K-12 schools.
Why The Bill Is Needed:
- An estimated 2 million school-age children suffer from food allergies, for which there is no cure.
- A recent study published in the Journal of School Nursing showed that 94 percent of the nation’s schools have students with food allergy.
- Reactions often occur at school including severe anaphylactic shock, which can kill within minutes unless epinephrine (adrenaline) is promptly administered.
- Deaths from anaphylaxis are usually a result of delayed administration of epinephrine.
- There are no consistent, standardized national guidelines to help schools safely manage students with the disease.
Who Supports Improved Management of Food Allergies in Schools:
- The importance of managing life-threatening food allergies in the school setting has been recognized by the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Association of School Nurses, and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
For more information, please contact Washington Representatives of The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network:
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