feel pretty strongly that that’s a medi- cal decision, not a legal decision, that somebody’s a danger to self or others due to mental illness,” Dr. Greenberg said. “And it doesn’t make sense if we can make that determination, and a patient qualifies, that we shouldn’t be able to hold them.” Governor Abbott did approve an-
other TMA Task Force on Behavioral Health-backed measure on June 18 when he signed Senator West’s Sen- ate Bill 1462. That measure allows a physician to prescribe an opioid an- tagonist to a person in danger of ex- periencing an opioid-related overdose or to a family member, friend, or other person in a position to help such a person. The bill allows for potentially lifesaving prescriptions of naloxone, a common opioid antagonist. However, before signing SB 1462,
Governor Abbott vetoed House Bill 225 by Rep. Ryan Guillen (D-Rio Grande City), a similar measure that also included “Good Samaritan” lan-
guage exempting certain people from prosecution for possession of a con- trolled substance of less than one gram. Under HB 225, a person who first requests emergency medical as- sistance for the possible overdose of another wouldn’t face prosecution if the person did so during an ongo- ing medical emergency, stayed on the scene until medical assistance arrived, and cooperated with medical respond- ers and law enforcement. The TMA Task Force on Behavioral
Health identified HB 225 as a priority recommendation. Governor Abbott’s veto statement says the bill’s goal was admirable, but it didn’t contain ade- quate protections to prevent habitual drug users and dealers from abusing the law. Dr. Secrest calls the governor’s de-
cision to instead sign SB 1462 “a con- solation prize.” “One of the things that it does do
is that it gets the availability of the naloxone out there, and that’s one of
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the first steps,” he said. “Whether you get over into the Good Samaritan part of that [later], as people better un- derstand the opportunities — I think that gets to be something that can be addressed at some other point in the future.”
RAW MILK, EKG SCREENING BILLS STALL Just four states do not completely pro- hibit texting while driving, according to the Insurance Institute for High- way Safety. Despite TPHC’s efforts, the legislature declined to remove Texas from that list during this year’s session. Rep. Tom Craddick (R-Midland)
filed House Bill 80 to implement a statewide ban on texting while driving. TPHC threw its support behind HB 80, which contained language exempting drivers who text in stopped vehicles and those who do so for emergency purposes or to report illegal activity. In a letter to the Senate State Af-
fairs Committee supporting the bill, TPHC notes that distracted driving caused more than 95,000 crashes in Texas in 2013, with 460 deaths. None- theless, HB 80 stalled in the Senate after the House passed it by a 104-39 vote.
Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo),
a sponsor of HB 80, called its failure one of the biggest disappointments of the session. “This was the fourth consecutive session I’ve filed a texting bill, and the 2017 session will be my fifth,” she said.
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“I strongly believe that texting while driving is a public health concern that needs to be addressed, especially be- cause we can prevent more Texans from dying or being injured in texting- related crashes.” But on a more positive note, two
other bills with public health implica- tions died after physicians expressed serious reservations about their po- tential impact. House Bill 91 by Rep. Dan Flynn
(R-Canton) would have allowed those with a permit to sell raw milk to do so at the permit holder’s place of busi-
50 TEXAS MEDICINE August 2015
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