Fentanyl testing law named for California teen gets bipartisan Senate support

David Lightman, The Sacramento Bee on Jan 21, 2026

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WASHINGTON — Senators from both parties are advancing “Tyler’s Law,” legislation that would require emergency rooms to improve how they test for deadly fentanyl overdoses.

The bill, unanimously approved last week by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, is named for Tyler Shamash, a Los Angeles teenager who died in 2018 after an overdose.

“The night before Tyler died from consuming fentanyl, he was sent to the hospital with a suspected overdose. When he got there, they did a drug test, and it turned out negative,” his mother, Juli Shamash, said in a statement.

“After he died, we found out it did not cover fentanyl because it was a synthetic opioid. Had we known, we could have sent him to a place with a higher level of care, instead of the sober living home where he died,” she said.

California and Maryland are now the only states that routinely test emergency room patients for fentanyl.

What the bill does

The bill, sponsored by Sens. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Jim Banks, R-Indiana, would direct the federal Department of Health and Human Services to study fentanyl testing rates in hospital emergency departments. The study would include costs and benefits.

Padilla said the legislation would be important by “bringing California’s updated standard of including fentanyl in emergency room screenings to the federal level. Today we are one step closer to preventing these tragedies.”

Under the bill, HHS would provide hospitals with recommendations on how to implement routine testing for fentanyl and improve diagnosis and treatment.

The bill is headed to the Senate floor, though there’s no specific timetable for a final vote.

It’s got a strong coalition behind it. “Tyler’s Law is critical because many doctors don’t realize that standard hospital opioid tests do not detect fentanyl, since it is a synthetic opioid,” the Drug Awareness Foundation told The Sacramento Bee in a statement The foundation works to prevent addiction and drug-related deaths through education and awareness.

“Testing for fentanyl can prevent tragedies by alerting patients that they consumed a substance containing fentanyl, allowing them to dispose of it and warn others who may be using the same drugs,” it said.

The bill, the foundation said, “also alerts doctors so they can provide naloxone to take home and connect patients with treatment or support to motivate change. Tyler’s Law has already saved lives in California, and once implemented nationwide, it will prevent many more unnecessary deaths.”

A House version of the legislation also has bipartisan support. Its chief sponsors are Reps. Ted Lieu, D-Los Angeles, Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles.

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