Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ARTHUR BARCLAY
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
Assemblyman DANIEL R. BENSON
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Assemblyman VINCENT MAZZEO
District 2 (Atlantic)
SYNOPSIS
Authorizes State and local law enforcement entities to contract for bulk purchasing of heroin antidote.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the bulk purchase of heroin antidotes and supplementing P.L.2013, c.46 (C.24:6J-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. On behalf of all State, county, and local law enforcement entities, emergency medical response entities, and first aid or rescue squads, and other public entities in the State, the Attorney General and the Superintendent of State Police shall be authorized to negotiate directly with drug manufacturers to secure better prices or rebates on drugs used as an antidote to heroin, and to purchase the heroin antidotes in bulk.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill authorizes the Attorney General and the Superintendent of State Police to contract for the bulk purchase of a heroin antidote, such as Naloxone (also sold under the brand name Narcan), on behalf of all State, county, and local law enforcement entities, emergency medical response entities, and first aid or rescue squads, and other public entities. The bill codifies the authority to negotiate, in order to utilize the State’s significant purchasing power to secure deeper discounts on bulk purchases of heroin antidotes.
In a June 2015 media release, Governor Christie announced that the Office of the Attorney General negotiated a significant discount with the drug manufacturer Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the opiate antidote Narcan. It was indicated that police departments and other public first responder entities would receive nearly 20 percent discount per dosage, via rebates from the manufactures. Additionally, it was indicated that under the agreement, the Office of the Attorney General will act as the administrative conduit in the rebate process. Law enforcement agencies and other public first responder entities would certify to the Office of the Attorney General the number of Amphastar syringe purchases made during a given calendar quarter. For purposes of the agreement, a “public entity” is defined as any nonfederal governmental entity located within New Jersey, including but not limited to State agencies, county or other local governments and their agencies, or law enforcement agencies. The agreement also covers non-profit, volunteer emergency medical service organizations.
In response to Fiscal Year 2016 - 2017 budget questions posed to the Department of Law and Public Safety, the Attorney General stated that “the rebate program has been successful in reducing the cost of Naloxone (i.e. Narcan) for public entities in New Jersey. Police departments, first aid squads, and community non-profit organizations have all taken advantage of the program to save money and to leverage scarce resources to purchase additional kits of the drug. Although the price paid by various public entities for Naloxone varies depending on each entity’s specific purchase contract and means of acquiring the drug, the average price before the rebate is around $30/dose. As such, the rebate – which is $6/dose – reduces the price of the drug by approximately 20%. There is no minimum volume of purchases necessary to secure the rebate.” The response further specified that the rebate agreement only covers purchases made before May 31, 2016.