TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A bill to require hospitals to test some patients for the presence of fentanyl in their systems passed the Florida Legislature and is now headed to the governor for his signature.
HB 1195 passed unanimously in the Florida Senate and House on Wednesday.
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The bill, also known as “Gage’s Law,” would require hospitals and hospital-based emergency facilities treating patients for a suspected drug overdose or poisoning to test them for fentanyl as well via a urine test.
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The bill is named for Gage Austin Taylor, who died of an overdose in 2022 at the age of 29.
Taylor’s mother, Gretchen Murray, fought for the bill. She said her son took a drug he didn’t know was laced with fentanyl, and the hospital didn’t test for the drug.
That led to an error on the medical examiner’s autopsy report, and as a result, law enforcement was not able to charge Taylor’s suspected drug dealers with homicide initially. After an investigation, the medical examiner changed the report, and law enforcement was able to bring charges.
Murray brought the bill to the Orange County Legislative Delegation. State Reps. Rita Harris, D-Orlando, and Doug Bankson, R-Apopka, partnered on the bill in the Florida House.
Harris said the bill is important because of the rise of people taking drugs and not realizing they are laced with fentanyl.
A legislative staff analysis says that from January 2023 to June 2023, 2,541 people in Florida died because of fentanyl, and of those deaths, 94.3% were accidental.
The analysis also cited a report by Epic Research that said only 14% of hospital emergency departments tested for fentanyl, as of June 2023.
“It’s a bipartisan issue that’s impacting all of Florida, no matter if you’re in a rural area or if you’re in a city,” Harris told News 6 back in February. “You hear these stories and they’re heartbreaking.”
Harris said it is also important for a hospital to know if a patient has fentanyl in their system so they know what medicinal treatments they can safely give them.
Should DeSantis sign the bill, it would go into effect on July 1, 2025.