Evers signs epinephrine, EMS bills
From Wisconsin Health News

Gov. Tony Evers signed into law bills Friday that expand the types of medications that can be administered to counteract severe allergic reactions and support a program boosting the amount of federal dollars available to support emergency medical services providers.

One of the proposals approved by Evers replaces current law references to “epinephrine auto-injector or prefilled syringe” with “epinephrine delivery system,” which is defined as a device that contains a premeasured dose of epinephrine and prevents or treats life-threatening allergic reactions. The bill also allows pharmacists to dispense epinephrine without patient-specific prescription orders, according to a statement from bill authors Sen. André Jacque, R-De Pere, and Rep. Shae Sortwell, R-Two Rivers. 

The legislation builds on a series of recent state laws expanding access to the law due to advocacy efforts by Angel and George Mueller, parents of Dillon Mueller, an 18-year-old who died from a reaction to a bee sting. 

“Thanks to them, Wisconsin is again leading the way forward in promoting epinephrine legislation nationwide,” Sortwell said in a statement. 

Evers signed off on legislation that EMS providers have described as the final piece of an effort to boost support for services. It builds on a 2022 state law establishing an ambulance assessment program, where providers pay an assessment that allows the state to draw down additional federal Medicaid dollars that it can distribute back to them. 

Evers also signed a bill into law that increases penalties for those who manufacture, deliver or administer a controlled substance that kills someone.

And he approved one bill and vetoed two that came from a legislative study committee that met last year to recommend reforms to the state’s occupational licensing system. 

The approved bill clarifies state law around licensure renewal. The vetoed bills boost license reporting requirements to the Legislature by the Department of Safety Professional Services.

In his veto messages, the governor noted he can’t support requiring the state agency to provide “arbitrary metrics” that don’t give meaningful information to applicants and divert resources away from processing licenses. He also objected to the Legislature not providing additional resources for the reporting. 

WAOPS Members Drs. Leslie and Lenard Markman were able to be present for the important signing and brought their Epinephrine Stickers with them!