Texas considers EpiPen mandate for schools

VICTORIA, Texas — The death of a Corpus Christi middle school football player has prompted the introduction of a state bill requiring that EpiPens be stocked in all public and charter schools.

The proposed bill will be one of many issues considered during the 84th legislative session starting January and ending in May.

Senate Bill 66, filed by Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, would require all schools to stock epinephrine auto-injectors, which are used to combat allergic reactions and would ensure employee training on the devices.

"The safety and well-being of our students is of the utmost importance, and SB 66 will ensure that schools have the training and equipment necessary to care for them in the event of these severe allergic reactions," Hinojosa said.

The proposed bill would also require all public and open-enrollment charter schools to have the medicine at off-campus school-sanctioned events.

In September 2013, 13-year-old Cameron Espinosa was playing football at Haas Middle School when an allergic reaction to ant bites sent him into anaphylactic shock.

His mother said if there would have been an EpiPen readily available, she believes her son's life would have been saved.

Hinojosa filed SB 66, after Cameron's football jersey number, and if passed, it will be called the "Cameron Espinosa Act."

The legislator, who serves the Corpus Christi area and parts of the Rio Grande Valley, has said the bill is personal to him because his son's life was saved because an EpiPen was used.

Victoria school district officials have discussed this issue recently.

Superintendent Robert Jaklich said the district's policy is that any student who has an EpiPen registered with the school has all their teachers, administrators, coaches and bus drivers trained to administer the medication.

"If the bill were to pass, then this requirement becomes non-student specific, which is different than