School Stock Inhaler Statutes and Regulations in the United States: A Systematic Review.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Children with asthma should have immediate access to rescue medication. Yet, <15% of children have access to this life-saving drug while at school. METHODS: A search was conducted in the all states database of Westlaw to identify which the US states, territories, and the District of Columbia have a law for K-12 schools. Terms searched included (inhaler or asthma/s medic!) and school and (prescription or order) from conception to December 2020. Demographic data from states with and without a policy were compared. All policies were examined for the following components (1) type of law (statute or regulation); (2) type of school (charter, private/parochial or public); (3) training requirements; (4) devices; (5) prescriptive authority/safe harbor; (6) medication requirements; and (7) mandated documentation, reporting and funding. RESULTS: Our systematic search revealed 15 locations with existing laws. States with a law had a higher percentage of children under 17-years than states without a law (p = .02). Common components described were the applicability to various types of schools, training requirements for those empowered to administer, and civil liability protections for trained school personnel. CONCLUSIONS: Existing stock inhaler laws differ vastly across the United States that may impact access to stock albuterol for children at their schools.