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The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress, and was published on Jun 23, 2015.
Overdose Prevention Act
This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to enter into cooperative agreements to reduce deaths from drug overdoses by: (1) purchasing and distributing naloxone (a medication that rapidly reverses overdose from heroin or other drugs with effects similar to opium) or a similar drug; and (2) educating or training the public, first responders, or health professionals on drug overdose prevention or response.
SAMHSA must establish a coordinating center and develop a plan to reduce drug overdose deaths by educating the public about overdose prevention and recommending improvements to overdose prevention programs.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must improve drug overdose surveillance by entering into cooperative agreements to: (1) provide training to improve identification of drug overdose as the cause of death, and (2) establish a national program for reporting drug overdoses.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) must prioritize, conduct, and support research on circumstances that contribute to drug overdose, drugs associated with fatal overdose, and overdose prevention methods. NIDA must support research on drug overdose treatments that can be administered by lay persons or first responders.
