Michigan Senate Bill SB0401

Michigan 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 6/11/25
• Refer: 6/11/25
• Report Pass: 6/26/25
• Refer: 6/26/25
• Report Pass: 7/1/25
• Engrossed: 7/1/25
• Refer: 7/1/25

Caption

Health: pharmaceuticals; co-prescribing of naloxone with opioid drugs; require. Amends sec. 17744b of 1978 PA 368 (MCL 333.17744b).

Summary

SB0401 amends Michigan’s Public Health Code to expand and clarify when opioid antagonists such as naloxone may be prescribed, dispensed, possessed, and distributed. The bill authorizes prescribers and pharmacists to provide opioid antagonists not only to at-risk patients, but also to family members, friends, other assisting individuals, certain non-individual entities acting under a prescriber’s direction, and agencies authorized under the Administration of Opioid Antagonists Act. It also requires that when an opioid antagonist is prescribed or dispensed to an agency or other non-patient recipient, the agency or person be listed as the patient on the prescription.

Impact

The bill would change state law by creating a clearer and broader framework for naloxone access and distribution under MCL 333.17744b. It requires prescribers to offer an opioid antagonist when prescribing opioids at 50 morphine milligram equivalents per day or more, when opioids are prescribed with benzodiazepines, or when the patient is otherwise at increased risk of overdose. The bill also preserves good-faith possession and dispensing protections and provides civil liability protection for prescribers, dispensing prescribers, and pharmacists for properly stored and dispensed opioid antagonists. Its practical effect is to expand overdose-reversal access for patients, families, community responders, and authorized agencies while reinforcing existing public health overdose-prevention efforts.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have broad support in the Senate, passing committee 9-0 and then passing the Senate on third reading by a vote of 34-2. The voting pattern suggests the measure was viewed favorably as a public health and overdose-prevention bill, with little recorded opposition in the available materials. No committee transcript was provided, so the available record shows support through votes rather than detailed debate.

Contention

The main policy point embedded in the bill is the mandatory offer of an opioid antagonist in certain prescribing situations, especially at higher opioid dosages and when opioids are combined with benzodiazepines. Any contention would likely center on whether this requirement adds burden to prescribers or whether the threshold and risk criteria are sufficiently broad to capture patients at risk of overdose. Another possible area of concern is the expansion of dispensing authority to non-patient recipients and agencies, though the bill addresses this by requiring compliance with storage rules, acting without compensation in some cases, and limiting liability for properly handled prescriptions.