By Marshall Keely for Spectrum News Channel 1
State lawmakers are responding to breakthroughs in a lifesaving drug this session as a bipartisan bill in the North Carolina House of Representatives could allow a less painful way to reverse allergic reactions to be used in public schools during emergencies.
Epinephrine, commonly known for by its brand name, EpiPen, has been the preferred drug to stop anaphylaxis and quickly open a patient’s airway. Now, a new FDA-approved method is on the market and could soon be used in North Carolina schools.
Dr. Lauren Siewny, emergency department medical director at Duke University Hospital in Durham, says the fast-acting medication is often used in life and death situations.
“Every year there’s a couple hundred people in the United States that die because of anaphylaxis,” Siewny said.
State Rep. Brian Turner, a sponsor of a new bill to expand the types of epinephrine used for emergency response in schools, has been through those frightening moments before.
“I myself have had significant allergic reactions to insect stings over the course of my life,” said Turner, a Democrat from Buncombe County.
Siewny said the faster a patient receives the drug, the better the outcome.
She’s no stranger to seeing young children with allergic reactions in her emergency room.
“Some of the most common ones we see are the first time that a child tries new food or new medicine,” Siewny said.
Some of those reactions happen at school.
While students with allergies can carry EpiPens with them, North Carolina law requires all schools to have at least two epinephrine injectors available for emergencies.
Republican State Rep. Tricia Cotham from Mecklenburg County, a primary sponsor of the bill, said giving the injection can be a nerve-wracking task in an already tense situation.
“As a former principal and teacher, it is scary for someone who’s not a medical professional if they have to give an injection,” Cotham said.
Without the right technique, the shot might not work.
“The No. 1 mistake I see with EpiPens is that people don’t hold it down on the patient long enough to adequately deliver the medicine,” Siewny said.
Another epinephrine drug, Auvi-Q, tries to solve that problem by walking those administering the shot through the process with voice commands.
A new drug called Neffy, which was FDA approved last August, requires no needle.
“You insert it into one of the nostrils and just press and it delivers the medicine,” Siewny explained. “It’s easy, it’s effective. People, I think, will find them much more intuitive to use.”
House Bill 397 would allow schools to keep Neffy or other FDA-approved epinephrine nasal sprays on hand for emergencies too.
While Neffy is less intimidating, Siewny said more time and testing is needed before Neffy can stand on its own.
“Right now, the inhaled version is more of an adjunct, so if you only have one, I still recommend EpiPen,” she said.
Lawmakers believe the new method can still make a difference.
“The law was very specific about auto injectors,” Turner said. “We need to expand that language and give people options.”
The bill was approved by the House Education Committee Tuesday and moves to the rules committee before a full vote in the House.
A companion bill was introduced in the North Carolina Senate last week.
Editor’s note: House Bill 397 has been placed on the House calendar for consideration on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.
The preceding article originally appeared on April 1, 2025 at Spectrum News Channel 1’s website and is made available here for educational purposes only. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 106A-117 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Any views or opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Carolina Leadership Coalition.
