Assembly Passes Rectal Injection Bill; Contact with Senate Could Defeat It
The CTA-opposed measure, SB 161, requiring school employees to rectally administer the drug valium to students experiencing epileptic seizures while in classes, just cleared the Assembly on a 47-16 vote (with 17 abstentions). (See the previous post for a vote tally.) It now goes back to the Senate for final approval.
Contacting your State Senator immediately to urge her/him to vote against SB 161 could help kill the bill. The Senate is expected to act on this quickly.
Educators are concerned about the danger to students by having non-medical personnel — including teachers, other certificated personnel, and education support professionals — administer the drug.
Educators believe it is unrealistic to assume non-medically trained school employees will receive
sufficient training to distinguish between different types of seizures and recognize whether the seizure can be safely treated with Diastat. The manufacturer’s instructions call for the medication to be administered through a student’s rectal cavity while she/he is in the middle of an epileptic seizure.
Educators are concerned about the health and safety of all school children. SB 161 is the wrong answer to get students the health services they need. Under current law, parents can already use the 504 process to get their child specialized medical services.
Posted at these links are a CTA letter on the bill, a Coalition letter on the bill, and an AP article about the bill’s potential impact on student health:
- · http://www.cta.org/~/media/97A4CD4E5D964E4EA894F6F42CD427… – CTA letter
- · http://www.cta.org/~/media/43A3B4838DBF45449610E022031567… – Coalition letter
- · http://www.cta.org/~/media/CBF258405EBA40BFA8ACE76651D523… – AP/Sacramento Bee article
