Overdose Review Team (H 7697A, S 2577B)

Another bill related to the opioid crisis also caused concerns. The Department of Health legislation creates a multi-disciplinary team to review overdose deaths in conjunction with the state Medical Examiner, in order to identify emerging trends in drug overdoses and, hopefully, reduce deaths in the future. However, the ACLU objected to provisions in the bill providing for the presence of law enforcement officials on these teams. The ACLU expressed concerns that reviews could skew away from public health to police investigations. This is especially concerning when paired with the “drug homicide” bill that was also enacted. The ACLU proposed amendments to the bill to ensure the team's efforts remain focused on public health. Instead, the General Assembly added a two-year sunset clause to the bill.