NY Employers Urged to Give Opioid Overdose Training for New Law

Employers in New York risk civil lawsuits if they don’t properly train employees on administering first aid to colleagues who overdose on opioids, business advocates warned.

The litigation threat comes as a new state law is scheduled to go into effect in June requiring employers to include an opioid antagonist such as naloxone in their first-aid kits. It’s one of several recent New York measures addressing substance abuse at work.

Employer groups support making opioid antagonists available in the workplace. But some are raising questions about legal risks associated with having workers administer the medication, when they aren’t trained medical ...