HB 1195 creates section 395.1042, Florida Statutes, and names the new provision “Gage’s Law.” The bill requires hospitals and hospital-based off-campus emergency departments, when treating a patient for a possible drug overdose or poisoning and using a urine drug test to help diagnose the condition, to include fentanyl testing in that urine test. If the urine test is positive for fentanyl, the facility must then perform a confirmation test as defined in existing law.
The bill also requires the urine test and confirmation test results to be kept as part of the patient’s clinical record for the period required by the hospital’s current practice. The act takes effect July 1, 2025. In practical terms, the bill adds a specific fentanyl-testing requirement to emergency diagnostic protocols in Florida hospitals and emergency departments.
HB 1195 amends Florida law by creating a new statutory section governing fentanyl testing in hospital emergency settings. It directly affects hospitals and hospital-based off-campus emergency departments that evaluate possible overdoses or poisonings and use urine drug testing, requiring them to include fentanyl in those tests and to confirm positive results. The bill also affects clinical recordkeeping practices by requiring retention of the test results under the facility’s existing record-retention timeframe.
The available context suggests broad support for the bill, as it passed and became chapter law with a companion measure also enacted. The bill’s title and structure indicate a public-safety and medical-response focus aimed at improving overdose diagnosis and response to fentanyl exposure. No committee transcript or recorded vote data is provided here, so there is no evidence of formal opposition in the supplied materials.
No specific points of contention appear in the provided committee transcripts or vote history, because none were included. Based on the bill’s requirements, any potential concerns would likely center on hospital compliance burdens, testing costs, diagnostic workflow changes, or how confirmation testing and record retention are implemented. However, the supplied record does not identify any named opponents or disputed provisions.