"Lincoln's Law" Aims to Solve the Silent Crisis of Sudden Epilepsy Deaths in Colorado

What This Bill Actually Does

Right now, Colorado has a data blind spot when it comes to epilepsy. The legislative declaration in SB26-077, formally dubbed "Lincoln's Law," lays out a sobering reality: people with epilepsy have a three times higher risk of early death than the general population. Worse, Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) claims the lives of 1 in 150 people living with uncontrolled seizures. But because of poor recognition and incomplete death records, these deaths are frequently misattributed to things like generic cardiac arrest. This bill is designed to fix the system from the top down.

First, the bill mandates that the Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) step up its educational game. By July 1, 2027, the department must gather evidence-based information on SUDEP and make it readily available to families and healthcare practitioners on state websites. More importantly, CDPHE is required to launch a statewide public health campaign to educate the public about epilepsy mortality risks. The goal is to ensure families get proper risk counseling before a tragedy happens, rather than discovering SUDEP through a Google search after the fact.

Here is the part that fundamentally changes how the state operates: the bill overhauls how deaths are investigated. Under Section 25-60-105, if a death is suspected to involve a seizure, death investigation professionals (like coroners and medical examiners) must specifically determine if epilepsy was the direct cause. If the death looks like SUDEP, the investigator is legally required to identify epilepsy as a contributing or suspected cause on the official death certificate. Furthermore, the state must report all of these epilepsy-related deaths to a national SUDEP registry, finally giving researchers the accurate data they need to understand and prevent this condition.

What It Means for You

If you have a child or family member with epilepsy—which affects roughly 456,000 kids nationwide, according to the bill's text—you already know the daily anxiety of managing seizures. But what you might not know is that many families are never officially warned about SUDEP. This bill changes that. It ensures that your doctor and the state actually provide you with evidence-based risk counseling and support resources. You won't have to stumble across this critical, life-saving information by accident anymore.

Beyond education, this is about getting accurate answers and closure. If the worst happens, families historically struggle to get accurate death certificates because a coroner might list "cardiac arrest" without investigating the underlying seizure. By requiring coroners to specifically check for and document epilepsy, you get an accurate medical record. That matters immensely for life insurance payouts, understanding your family's medical history, and finding peace of mind. It forces the system to acknowledge the actual cause of a loved one's passing.

Here are your action items to take right now:

• Talk to your neurologist: Don't wait for the state's public health campaign in 2027. Ask your doctor about SUDEP risk factors and mitigation strategies at your very next appointment.
• Contact the committee: SB26-077 is currently sitting in the Health & Human Services Committee. If you have a personal connection to epilepsy, email the committee members. Personal stories from real constituents are what move the needle on public health bills.

What It Means for Your Business

If you run a medical practice, a neurology clinic, or work in the death care industry, this bill brings new compliance standards to your doorstep. For healthcare providers, you need to prepare to integrate the CDPHE's new standard information into your patient onboarding and risk counseling protocols by July 1, 2027. This isn't just a suggestion; it represents a new standard of care being codified into state law. For county coroners, forensic pathologists, and medicolegal death investigators, this bill mandates new training protocols to align with national standards for investigating seizure-related deaths.

For businesses in the marketing, communications, and government contracting space, there is a clear opportunity here. The state has a hard legislative deadline to launch a statewide public health campaign by mid-2027. If you own a PR or marketing agency that works with government entities, keep an eye out for Requests for Proposals (RFPs) from the health department late next year. Furthermore, the bill explicitly requires the state to collaborate with nonprofit epilepsy organizations, meaning local advocacy groups will have a mandatory seat at the table when these materials are developed.

Here is what you should do this week to stay ahead of the curve:

• Audit your death reporting protocols: If you manage a coroner's office or forensic pathology lab, review your current software and operational procedures for death certificates to ensure your team can easily flag and document SUDEP.
• Set up procurement alerts: Public relations and health marketing firms should set up state procurement alerts for CDPHE contracts related to public health campaigns and epilepsy awareness starting in late 2026.
• Connect with nonprofits: If your business provides support services for epilepsy, start networking with the state health department now to be included in the resource directories they are mandated to build.

Follow the Money

Because this bill was just introduced, the official nonpartisan fiscal note hasn't been published yet, but we can easily read between the lines on the costs. Creating a statewide public awareness campaign, developing training programs for coroners, and updating state health websites is not free. CDPHE will almost certainly need a budget appropriation to hire staff or outside contractors to meet that strict July 1, 2027 deadline. Expect to see a fiscal note asking for a mid-six-figure sum to get the public health campaign off the ground.

At the local level, county coroners' offices might face minor administrative costs to update their training and ensure they are reporting data to the designated SUDEP registry. However, the bill's authors were smart about keeping costs down: it explicitly allows the state to collaborate with existing national nonprofits and reputable organizations to build these training programs. By borrowing best practices from national medicolegal organizations instead of reinventing the wheel, the state avoids massive research and development costs.

Where This Bill Stands

SB26-077 was introduced in the Senate on January 28, 2026, by Senator Iman Jodeh. Right now, it is assigned to the Senate Health & Human Services Committee. It currently doesn't have a House sponsor listed, which is definitely a detail to watch—bills typically need a strong champion in both chambers to cross the finish line smoothly and survive committee amendments.

Because this is a non-controversial public health measure focused on transparency and education, it has a very strong chance of passing, provided the upcoming fiscal note doesn't spook the budget committee. The next immediate step is a committee hearing in the Senate, where you can expect to hear highly emotional testimony from families affected by SUDEP. If passed and signed by the Governor, the law itself would take effect in August 2026, giving the health department about a year to hit its major operational deadlines in July 2027.