Calling 911 during an overdose won't get you arrested
H.R. 4607 — SEEK HELP Act · Filed by Joe Neguse (D-CO) · 6 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 22, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill protects people from criminal prosecution and civil liability when they seek medical help during a drug overdose—either their own or someone else's. It shields them from drug possession charges if police learn about drugs only because they called 911 or a doctor, and it protects bystanders who administer overdose-reversal drugs like naloxone from being sued. The bill funds public awareness campaigns and law enforcement training to ensure people know these protections exist.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is removing criminal barriers to emergency medical care during overdoses. It is a public health measure designed to increase help-seeking behavior and reduce overdose deaths, not a regulatory carve-out or industry giveaway.
What the text implies
- The bill's effectiveness depends on law enforcement understanding and respecting the immunity—training and awareness campaigns are essential, but local enforcement discretion may still chill reporting in some jurisdictions.
- The civil immunity for administering naloxone is already provided by many state laws; this bill federalizes and standardizes it, but does not create a new private right of action or liability shield for manufacturers.
- The GAO study requirement (Section 5) creates a 2-year evaluation window; if data shows low uptake or continued barriers, Congress may need to revisit enforcement mechanisms or penalties for non-compliance by states.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill removes a barrier to emergency care by decoupling overdose reporting from drug possession prosecution, allowing people in crisis to seek help without fear of arrest. This directly saves lives by encouraging 911 calls and medical intervention during overdoses.
Named in the bill
Department of Health and Human Services, Drug Enforcement Administration, Comptroller General of the United States, State and local law enforcement, Emergency response providers, Poison control centers
Where it stands
6 cosponsors: 3 Democrats, 3 Republicans.
- Jul 22, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 22, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce and House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (9,212 characters) on Sep 27, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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