Published: March 31, 2026
By: Izzy Wollfarth, LSU Manship School News Service
BATON ROUGE, La. (WVUE) – A House bill that would extend penalties to any person, including a child’s relative, who administers nonprescription medication to a child without parental consent easily advanced to the Senate on Monday.
House Bill 106, authored by Rep. Vincent Cox III, R-Gretna, specifically targets the distribution of melatonin, a sleep aid, without parents’ approval and provides penalties of up to $1,000 and six months in jail.
Cox said the bill was prompted by an incident in Gretna in which a nanny at a child’s home gave the child medication without parental permission. The child’s family was unable to pursue charges under current state law, and Cox said the city’s chief of police brought the concern directly to him.
The bill faced some initial opposition on the House floor.
“There are a lot of medications that are not crimes to give to children,” Rep. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, said. “As a grandparent, I wouldn’t want to be charged with a crime for giving someone melatonin.”
Read more at FOX8.
LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau 
Leave a comment