(The Center Square) – An Illinois state representative was administered an opioid antagonist on the House floor this week to show the safety and ease of use of the drug.
State Rep. Bill Hauter, R-Morton, is also an emergency room physician. Wednesday during a point of personal privilege on the House floor, he announced he would have someone with no training give him naloxone, an opioid antagonist.
“In someone, I’m obviously, it reverses opioids and I’m allegedly not on any opioids, and so it will do nothing to me but if you are, it is a life saving medication that is the cure and the antidote to respiratory depression from opioids,” Hauter said.
State Rep. Amy Grant, R-Weaton, opened the box, took the nasal sprayer out of the box and pushed it up Hauter’s nose. The sound of the spray could be faintly picked up by Hauter’s House microphone. Hauter was unphased.
“And that can be a life saving maneuver,” he said immediately after. “It is completely safe. It was just like if you take a sugar pill and you don’t have any side effects. If you are having an opioid overdose and you have respiratory depression or altered mental status, that would reverse it.”
In Illinois, pharmacists, schools and opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution programs can provide naloxone without a direct prescription.
Hauter said naloxone should be treated as other emergency life saving techniques.
“I want it to be just like CPR or just like an AED, you don’t need training. Just do it,” he said. “It’s completely safe and it could save someone’s life.”
In 2022, there were 3,261 opioid overdose deaths in Illinois, an 8.2% increase from the prior year. Since 2013, the Illinois Department of Public Health reports synthetic opioid overdose deaths increased by 3,341%.
