Lexington County Sen. Katrina Shealy’s opioid overdose assistance bill has become law.

Gov. Henry McMaster signed Senate Bill 571 into law.

It requires those who prescribe opioids to also offer patients a reversal medication, such as naloxone.

Republicans Sen. Shealy and Rep. Russell Fry were joined by Democrat Sen. Brad Hutto in introducing the bill.

A rise in overdoses in South Carolina before and during the pandemic has reinforced the critical need to expand access to potentially lifesaving overdose reversal medications such as naloxone.

According to September 2020 data from the SC Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse, overdoses in the state were 50% higher in 2020 than 2019.

In May 2020 alone, EMS personnel responded to 915 suspected opioid overdoses – the highest monthly number ever recorded in the state.

The new law “marks an important step forward in the anguishing fight for our most vulnerable citizens against opioid addiction,” said Sen. Shealy.