New State Law Seeks Better Data on Heroin Overdoses

The state is working to get a handle on how many heroin overdoses there are in Illinois under the requirements of a new state law.

The Illinois Department of Health is developing rules and procedures for collecting information on overdoses as required by the Heroin Crisis Act, the Daily Herald reported. Supporters of the law enacted in September say its requirements will lead to a more reliable record of heroin overdoses and deaths.

Under the law, hospitals must report all overdoses, fatal or not, to the state within 48 hours of the patient's treatment. Coroners must also tell the state what drug caused each overdose death when that can be determined. These records must be posted online, though without identification.

"Everyone who's involved in this issue in some way, fashion or form, will have to work together if this is going to give us the kinds of reduction in heroin addiction and heroin death that we've been looking for," said state Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, the law's chief sponsor.

Advocates say better information will help the state determine the heroin problem's scope and how to fight it. There were 681 heroin deaths reported statewide in 2014.

"If that data is actually reported by all the hospitals in compliance with the law, then we will have very good real-time data across our state to see just how bad it is in all 102 counties," said John Roberts, co-founder of Heroin Epidemic Relief Organization, who pushed for hospitals to track overdoses.

Not all coroners test for heroin, said Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold. Those who don't will have to start under the new law once rules on the new data requirements are in place. Reporting will likely start in several months to a year, after the state health department drafts rules, gets input from advisory boards and has rules approved by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.