Thanks to a change in state law, children in kindergarten and up who have severe allergies can carry an injectable medicine to use at school this fall.
The medicine is available only by prescription. One brand name is Epi-Pen. The medicine, which patients administer themselves, is intended for use in emergencies to treat severe reactions to insect stings, foods, drugs or other substances, according to MedicineNet.com.
The law change, which took effect Tuesday, applies only to the emergency use of an epinephrine auto-injector. It has nothing to do with treatments for other ailments such as diabetes or hyperactivity.
The Boise and Meridian school districts have written policies on schoolchildren's medication.
In Meridian, nurses normally dispense medicine, except asthma inhalers, but kids with special health needs can carry and use medications if they have life-threatening ailments, including allergies.
In Boise, epinephrine auto-injectors have joined asthma inhalers as medications kids can carry with them, said Tamara Fredrickson, health-services supervisor for the Boise School District.
"We had procedures in place where I think kids were kept safe, but I think this can enhance their safety, and there are an increasing number of children with allergies," Fredrickson said.
Nurses will administer other medicine to kids in kindergarten through 9th grade unless the students have permission from the principal, nurse or doctor to keep their medicine with them. Older kids can give themselves medicine with similar permissions.
"Food allergies would be the most common reason to carry (Epi-Pens)," said Dr. G. William Palmer, an allergist with Boise Valley Allergy and Asthma Clinic. Peanut allergies are one common example, he said.
Sen. Elliot Werk, D-Boise, said parents had been encouraging him for several years to help craft a bill for kids who suffer anaphylaxis, a severe, whole-body allergic reaction that causes the airways to tighten and leads to other life-threatening symptoms.
Prompt use of the drug is vital to prevent death.
"If a child is not carrying their Epi-Pen, and there is no school nurse, and you can't get ahold of a person and it's locked in a cabinet, 10 or 15 minutes have gone by, and that's a real problem," said Werk, who has a child with a severe allergy to nuts.
Colleen LaMay: 377-6448
