Virginia House panel OKs bill on epinephrine pens

RICHMOND

Schools may be able to stock epinephrine pens to treat students suffering from severe allergic reactions under a bill that advanced Wednesday from a House panel.

The measure, HB1107, would permit school boards to develop policies for stocking the pens, which a school nurse or other trained school employee could administer in an emergency. The proposal would protect those employees from lawsuits and would apply to students who have prescriptions on file or who show signs of an anaphylactic reaction.

A Chesterfield County girl died last month after suffering an allergic reaction at her elementary school, possibly from eating a peanut. She did not have her own epinephrine pen at school. Advocates for children with allergies said measures such as HB1107 could prevent such deaths.

Auto-injectable epinephrine, often sold under the name EpiPen, fights severe allergic reactions, such as to bees, peanuts or shellfish, by reducing swelling, constricting blood vessels and opening airways.

Del. Chris Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, a physician, said the risks of administering the pen are low.

"We are far better off having an EpiPen available to use," he said Wednesday in response to questions from his counterparts on the House Education Committee. "If a school employee misdiagnoses a temper tantrum as an anaphylactic shock and administers the pen, the risks to the child will be very small."

The committee approved the bill 20-1.

Kathy Adams, 804-697-1563, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com