EpiPens and other needle-based epinephrine injection have been the only option in Oregon schools, but a bill awaiting Gov. Tina Kotek's signature would allow nasal spray and other methods to treat allergic reactions. (Photo by Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
While legislators are supposed to represent their constituents, it’s not often that a letter from an Oregon teen leads to a law.
However, Kailee Desmond, a Lake Oswego teen, sought to change this. As someone with severe allergies, she saw that EpiPens and other needle injections were the only ways for schools to administer the lifesaving medication epinephrine, which is used to slow allergic reactions.
“I reached out to senators because anaphylaxis is sudden and life-threatening, and rapid access to epinephrine saves lives,” Desmond told the Senate Health Care Committee in mid-February. “I know this because I am a young Oregonian student who lives with a life-threatening food allergy.”
Desmond wrote to Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, and Sen. Suzanne Weber, R-Tillamook, explaining that access to an epinephrine nasal spray could help students. Her letter hit close to home for Wagner, who discovered his own bee allergy while doing yardwork as a teenager Now, he carries an EpiPen with him wherever he goes.
“For children experiencing severe allergies or an allergic reaction, every second counts,” Wagner said. “This legislation reflects the reality of our schools today, that more kids are facing serious allergies and a greater need for staff that can respond effectively.”
Wagner and Weber introduced Senate Bill 1504, which unanimously passed the Senate earlier in February and cleared the House on Thursday. It now awaits Gov. Tina Kotek’s signature.
The bill would allow any form of premeasured epinephrine to be used in schools, language meant to open up options as there are new medical advancements. Other components of the bill would require additional education and training for educators in administering epinephrine, and reinforce legal protections for individuals administering epinephrine in good faith.
While EpiPens are the most well-known and common way to administer epinephrine, new medical advancements have allowed for other ways to administer the life-saving drug. The federal Food and Drug Administration approved neffy, an epinephrine nasal spray, in 2024. It became the first non-injectable form of epinephrine approved for anaphylaxis, according to Yale Medicine.
Described by lawmakers as common sense legislation, the bill received bipartisan support and no opposition. Written testimony from Denise Cardinali, legislative chair of the Oregon School Nurse Association supporting the bill, noted the benefits this update would have for school officials.
“As a registered nurse who works in the school setting we are now seeing parents providing school with Neffy, intranasal epinephrine,” Cardinali wrote. “Updating Oregon statute to reflect the changing field of epinephrine emergency medications will provide for more efficient accepting of emergency medication in the school setting.”
Rep. Bobby Levy, R-Echo, said her doctors recommended she switch to nasal spray epinephrine for ease of access during an emergency.
“I’m so allergic to bee stings that when the bees start coming out all my neighbors know where I store my epinephrine pens,” Levy said on the House floor Thursday. “I actually have a doctor’s appointment after the session ends to go to the nasal spray because they are much easier to carry.”
While nasal sprays are the most recent advancement, the FDA is also reviewing other options, including the use of sublingual film — a dissolvable film that can be placed in the mouth.
Sen. Weber said the legislation’s ultimate goal is to allow flexibility for schools as medical technology advances.
“Medical technology continues to advance and current wording of the law locks us into one form of distribution of this lifesaving drug,” Weber said. “As advances in medical technology march on there won’t be any need to change the law.”
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