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A bill that would allow schools to train employees to administer medication to children during a seizure passed out of the state Senate last week, despite strong opposition from nurses and teachers.
As drama in the state Capitol goes, this bill has it all.
It brings years of budget cuts to schools in sharp focus, galvanizing the opposition of teachers and nurses who implore the Legislature to send vocational nurses to schools to watch over epileptic students. School nurses are so few and far between that registered nurses support the hiring of vocational nurses, who have less training and lower salaries than registered nurses.
The bill is being carried by a conservative Republican, Sen. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, and earning a mix of support and ire from the left.
Vulnerable children are at the center of the debate over how or who – if anyone – will be capable of administering emergency medication in case of a debilitating seizure.
Debate over the bill has created opponents out of friends, pitting a prominent labor lobbyist against his union brethren. As the Sacramento Bee’s Dan Morain wrote, labor lobbyist Scott Wetch has parted with teachers, nurses and SEIU leaders to support the bill.
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Wetch has a young daughter with epilepsy. Even though she goes to a private school and would not benefit from the bill, Wetch is standing with other parents who see the bill as a lifeline for their children.
He and the other parents are among the “vocal and educated parents” that union leaders have described and urge lawmakers to ignore. A coalition of teachers and nurse unions have fired off letters to lawmakers, arguing that layperson administration of the drug Diastat could be dangerous.
They argue that school employees could be legally liable if medication administration goes wrong. And they say that children would not be assured privacy if the rectally administered medicine is given in a classroom.
Stephanie Roberson, legislative advocate for the California Nurses Association, said the precise number and location of kids who might need the antiepileptic medication Diastat is not even known. "If you can tell us where kids are – present the problem and we can offer a solution," she said. "There isn't data, it's not being collected."
The arguments so far have not proven compelling enough to lawmakers, the majority of whom tend to be sympathetic to union causes. Siding with parents, legislators passed the bill through Senate committees and cast a 32-4 vote Thursday on the Senate floor. Next, Assembly committees will review the bill.
Arguing in its favor has been Disability Rights California, which notes that giving kids with epilepsy access to life-saving medications also ensures their right to an integrated education. Also in favor are advocates from Epilepsy California, who note that children who are not given the anti-seizure medication risk permanent brain damage.
Several school districts that also favor the bill have reminded lawmakers that the Food and Drug Administration has approved the drug as one that can safely be administered by lay people.
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