---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- OFFICE OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS (Provides that the state medical examiner is to conduct a multi-disciplinary team review of drug-related overdose deaths.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- OFFICE OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS (Provides that the state medical examiner is to conduct a multi-disciplinary team review of drug-related overdose deaths.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2018"
identifier: "HB 7697"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 7697 (2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Death", "Dept. of Health", "Drugs", "Health & Safety", "Medical", "Physicians"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bennett", "Marshall", "McNamara", "Newberry", "Shekarchi"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 18
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2018-02-28"
last_action: "2018-06-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3d5a0b36-a393-4411-8493-4fb50358a259"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "dbd881ef6ff415eab3103b7ae3097582d3dd667c0cc2b03bb7798517d8d5689f"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island HB 7697 (2018) — AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- OFFICE OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS (Provides that the state medical examiner is to conduct a multi-disciplinary team review of drug-related overdose deaths.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **7697 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText18/HouseText18/H7697A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **68–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bennett — primary (person)
- Marshall — primary (person)
- McNamara — primary (person)
- Newberry — primary (person)
- Shekarchi — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-02-28** 02/28/2018 Introduced, referred to House H.E.W. `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2018-03-30** 03/30/2018 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/04/2018)
- **2018-04-04** 04/04/2018 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2018-06-21** 06/21/2018 Committee transferred to House Judiciary
- **2018-06-21** 06/21/2018 Scheduled for consideration (06/21/2018)
- **2018-06-21** 06/21/2018 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-06-21** 06/21/2018 Placed on House Calendar (06/22/2018)
- **2018-06-22** 06/22/2018 House voted to recommit to House Judiciary
- **2018-06-22** 06/22/2018 Committee transferred to House H.E.W.
- **2018-06-22** 06/22/2018 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (06/22/2018)
- **2018-06-22** 06/22/2018 Scheduled for consideration (06/23/2018)
- **2018-06-23** 06/23/2018 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-06-23** 06/23/2018 Placed on House Calendar (06/23/2018)
- **2018-06-23** 06/23/2018 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2018-06-23** 06/23/2018 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/23/2018)
- **2018-06-23** 06/23/2018 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2018-06-26** 06/26/2018 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2018-06-28** 06/28/2018 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3d5a0b36-a393-4411-8493-4fb50358a259`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).