An act to add Section 1714.27 to the Civil Code, relating to emergency services.
Summary
AB 369 adds Section 1714.27 to the Civil Code to create a limited liability protection for people who are not otherwise licensed to administer anti-seizure rescue medication but who, in good faith and without compensation, give that medication at the scene of an emergency to someone who is experiencing or may be experiencing a seizure. The immunity applies to protection from professional review, civil liability, and criminal prosecution, so long as the person’s conduct is not grossly negligent and does not amount to willful or wanton misconduct.
The bill expressly excludes administration to a pupil on a school site, which remains governed by the Seizure Safe Schools Act and its existing school-based training and volunteer administration rules. In effect, AB 369 extends a Good Samaritan-style framework to seizure emergencies outside the school setting while preserving the separate statutory scheme for schools.
Impact
AB 369 amends the Civil Code by adding a new liability shield for lay responders who administer anti-seizure rescue medication in emergencies. It affects individuals who are not licensed health professionals, as well as potential civil litigants, prosecutors, and professional licensing or review bodies, by limiting exposure when medication is given in good faith, without pay, and without gross negligence. The bill does not change the school-site rules in the Education Code for seizure medication administration, which continue to apply to pupils on school grounds.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It moved through the Legislature on consent calendars and passed every recorded vote unanimously, with no recorded opposition in committee or on the floors. The lack of dissent and the chaptered status suggest a favorable consensus around expanding emergency seizure-response protections.
Contention
There is little evidence of substantive opposition in the available record. The main policy distinction in the bill is between emergency administration in public or non-school settings and administration to pupils on school sites, which remains subject to the Seizure Safe Schools Act. Any potential concern would likely center on the scope of immunity and the standard of conduct required, since the bill protects only good-faith, unpaid responders and excludes gross negligence and willful or wanton misconduct.
A bill for an act relating to school personnel training, emergency care planning, authorizations for assisting, and limitations of liability concerning students with epilepsy or a seizure disorder.(See HF 835.)
A bill for an act relating to school personnel training, emergency care planning, authorizations for assisting, and limitations of liability concerning students with epilepsy or a seizure disorder.(See SF 368.)
Requires the department of elementary and secondary education and DOH to adopt policies, rules and regulations for the administration of seizure rescue medications for children who have been medically identified as having epilepsy/seizure disorder.
Requires the department of elementary and secondary education and DOH to adopt policies, rules and regulations for the administration of seizure rescue medications for children who have been medically identified as having epilepsy/seizure disorder.
Requires the department of elementary and secondary education and DOH to adopt policies, rules and regulations for the administration of seizure rescue medications for children who have been medically identified as having epilepsy/seizure disorder.
Requires the department of elementary and secondary education and DOH to adopt policies, rules and regulations for the administration of seizure rescue medications for children who have been medically identified as having epilepsy/seizure disorder.
Relating to the regulation of pharmacists and the practice of pharmacy, including the administration of a medication and the ordering and administration of an immunization or vaccination by a pharmacist.