I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 632

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 8, 1999

Referred to the Committee on Commerce

AN ACT

To provide assistance for poison prevention and to stabilize

the funding of regional poison control centers.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Poison Control Center

5 Enhancement and Awareness Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) Each year more than 2,000,000 poisonings

4 are reported to poison control centers throughout

5 the United States. More than 90 percent of these

6 poisonings happen in the home. 53 percent of poi7 soning victims are children younger than 6 years of

8 age.

9 (2) Poison control centers are a valuable na10 tional resource that provide life-saving and cost-ef11 fective public health services. For every dollar spent

12 on poison control centers, $7 in medical costs are

13 saved. The average cost of a poisoning exposure call

14 is $32, while the average cost if other parts of the

15 medical system are involved is $932. Over the last

16 2 decades, the instability and lack of funding has re17 sulted in a steady decline in the number of poison

18 control centers in the United States. Within just the

19 last year, 2 poison control centers have been forced

20 to close because of funding problems. A third poison

21 control center is scheduled to close in April 1999.

22 Currently, there are 73 such centers.

23 (3) Stabilizing the funding structure and in24 creasing accessibility to poison control centers will

25 increase the number of United States residents who

26 have access to a certified poison control center, and
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1 reduce the inappropriate use of emergency medical

2 services and other more costly health care services.

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITION.

4 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec5 retary of Health and Human Services.

6 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL TOLL-FREE NUM7 BER.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide co9 ordination and assistance to regional poison control cen10 ters for the establishment of a nationwide toll-free phone

11 number to be used to access such centers.

12 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec13 tion shall be construed as prohibiting the establishment

14 or continued operation of any privately funded nationwide

15 toll-free phone number used to provide advice and other

16 assistance for poisonings or accidental exposures.

17 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

18 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section,

19 $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through

20 2004. Funds appropriated under this subsection shall not

21 be used to fund any toll-free phone number described in

22 subsection (b).
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1 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONWIDE MEDIA CAM2 PAIGN.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a

4 national media campaign to educate the public and health

5 care providers about poison prevention and the availability

6 of poison control resources in local communities and to

7 conduct advertising campaigns concerning the nationwide

8 toll-free number established under section 4.

9 (b) CONTRACT WITH ENTITY.—The Secretary may

10 carry out subsection (a) by entering into contracts with

11 1 or more nationally recognized media firms for the devel12 opment and distribution of monthly television, radio, and

13 newspaper public service announcements.

14 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

15 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section,

16 $600,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through 2004.

17 SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF A GRANT PROGRAM.

18 (a) REGIONAL POISON CONTROL CENTERS.—The

19 Secretary shall award grants to certified regional poison

20 control centers for the purposes of achieving the financial

21 stability of such centers, and for preventing and providing

22 treatment recommendations for poisonings.

23 (b) OTHER IMPROVEMENTS.—The Secretary shall

24 also use amounts received under this section to—

25 (1) develop standard education programs;
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1 (2) develop standard patient management pro2 tocols for commonly encountered toxic exposures;

3 (3) improve and expand the poison control data

4 collection systems;

5 (4) improve national toxic exposure surveillance;

6 and

7 (5) expand the physician/medical toxicologist

8 supervision of poison control centers.

9 (c) CERTIFICATION.—Except as provided in sub10 section (d), the Secretary may make a grant to a center

11 under subsection (a) only if—

12 (1) the center has been certified by a profes13 sional organization in the field of poison control, and

14 the Secretary has approved the organization as hav15 ing in effect standards for certification that reason16 ably provide for the protection of the public health

17 with respect to poisoning; or

18 (2) the center has been certified by a State gov19 ernment, and the Secretary has approved the State

20 government as having in effect standards for certifi21 cation that reasonably provide for the protection of

22 the public health with respect to poisoning.

23 (d) WAIVER OF CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may grant a

25 waiver of the certification requirement of subsection
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1 (c) with respect to a noncertified poison control cen2 ter or a newly established center that applies for a

3 grant under this section if such center can reason4 ably demonstrate that the center will obtain such a

5 certification within a reasonable period of time as

6 determined appropriate by the Secretary.

7 (2) RENEWAL.—The Secretary may only renew

8 a waiver under paragraph (1) for a period of 3

9 years.

10 (e) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Amounts made

11 available to a poison control center under this section shall

12 be used to supplement and not supplant other Federal,

13 State, or local funds provided for such center.

14 (f) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—A poison control

15 center, in utilizing the proceeds of a grant under this sec16 tion, shall maintain the expenditures of the center for ac17 tivities of the center at a level that is not less than the

18 level of such expenditures maintained by the center for

19 the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the

20 grant is received.

21 (g) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary may

22 impose a matching requirement with respect to amounts

23 provided under a grant under this section if the Secretary

24 determines appropriate.
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1 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

2 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section,

3 $25,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through

4 2004.

Passed the Senate August 5, 1999.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.