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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A new law taking effect this summer requiring New Mexico schools stockpile medicine to treat students for severe allergic reactions or asthma attacks has officials concerned, the Albuquerque Journal reported (http://bit.ly/1hXHX7X ).
Some school districts are hesitant to follow the new law because they can be sued if something goes wrong.
Gov. Susana Martinez signed Senate Bill 75 into law last month, saying it would save children's lives. The law, which takes effect July 1, permits school nurses to administer the medication even to students who don't have a prescription.
But a clause in the bill shielding schools from civil lawsuits was removed.
Dick Minzner, an attorney who studied the law, said schools could be sued if medicine is incorrectly administered or stored.
"I expect there could be a lawsuit in either case, not that it would necessarily prevail," Minzner said.
State Sen. Mark Moores, a Republican from Albuquerque, sponsored the legislation and ceded the legal-immunity provision to get the bill passed.
The request was made by the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association and Foundation. President Kris Bogardus said lawsuit fears will ensure schools will do a god job when devising how to issue the medicine and store it.
Lisa Patch, a school nurse and president of the New Mexico School Nurses Association, lobbied for the legislation. Before, state law prevented school nurses or trained employees from stepping in. As a result, a child would have to wait for an emergency responder to arrive. About a fourth of students suffer life-threatening allergic reactions because of an undiagnosed food allergy, she added.
"It's not the kids with prescriptions I worry about so much. It's the 25 percent of the students that haven't had a (severe allergic reaction) before," Patch said.
Carrie Robin Menapace, a policy analyst for Albuquerque Public Schools, said the lack of immunity and funds for the medication have officials worried. APS board members will discuss the matter more at a meeting, she said.
Moores said some drug companies offer programs where they give medication to schools for free, which would be allowed under this new law.
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Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com
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