School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act

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The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN™) is working on federal legislation that would encourage states to adopt laws allowing schools to have on hand “stock” epinephrine auto-injectors – meaning epinephrine that is not prescribed specifically to a single student but can be used for any student and staff member in an anaphylactic emergency.

On Nov. 17 this bill (S. 1884), the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act, was introduced in the Senate by U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL). On Dec. 8, the bill (HR. 3627) was introduced in the House by Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN) and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD).

Sen. Kirk with Brianna and Rhonda Adkins, and FAAN CEO Maria Acebal
Sen. Kirk (R-IL) with Brianna and Rhonda Adkins, and FAAN CEO Maria Acebal on Capitol Hill.
FAAN CEO Maria Acebal with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) on Capitol Hill.
Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN) with Brianna and Rhonda Adkins, daughter and wife of country music star Trace Adkins. 
Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) with FAAN CEO Maria L. Acebal.

Prior to the bill's introduction, on Nov. 15, FAAN CEO Maria L. Acebal, joined by Rhonda Adkins, wife of country music superstar and Celebrity Ambassador Who Cares Trace Adkins, and Adkins’s young daughter Brianna, visited lawmakers on Capitol Hill to urge them to support this lifesaving legislation.

Now we need your help to get support from your senators and representatives! Please download our sample letters of support, personalize the letters, and send the letters to your senators and representatives.

You can look up your local senators at www.senate.gov, and your local representatives at www.house.gov.

Check out who has signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill:

The bill has also been endorsed by:

  • American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology
  • American Academy of Emergency Medicine
  • American Academy of Pediatrics
  • American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology
  • National Association of School Nurses

In addition to protecting those whose epinephrine auto-injector isn’t immediately accessible during a reaction, this legislation will help save the lives of those who experience an anaphylactic reaction and don’t have a prescribed epinephrine auto-injector. Data shows that up to 25% of all epinephrine administrations that occur in the school setting involve students and adult staffers whose allergy was unknown at the time of the event.

Only a handful of states have laws related to stock epinephrine. S. 1884/H.R. 3627, however, will provide an incentive for states to enact their own laws allowing school personnel to keep and administer a non-student specific epinephrine auto-injector in case of an emergency. (The state laws would be similar to the ones enacted in Illinois and Georgia in 2011.)

Thank you for your help gathering support for S. 1884/H.R. 3627. We will keep you posted as FAAN continues to work to secure passage of this important legislation. Together, we can save the lives of those with potentially life-threatening food allergies.