Calendar No. 252

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 632

A BILL

To provide assistance for poison prevention and to

centers.stabilize the funding of regional poison control

AUGUST 4, 1999

Reported with an amendment
II

Calendar No. 252

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 632

To provide assistance for poison prevention and to stabilize the funding

of regional poison control centers.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 16, 1999

Mr. DEWINE (for himself, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. CHAFEE, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr.

BOND, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BURNS, Mr.

DODD, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. BENNETT, Mr. KERRY, Mr.

WYDEN, Mr. COVERDELL, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr. ROBERTS,

Mr. WELLSTONE, Mr. ENZI, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. HAGEL,

Mr. MACK, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. REED, Mr. GREGG,

Mr. FRIST, and Mr. MOYNIHAN) introduced the following bill; which was

read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor,

and Pensions

AUGUST 4, 1999

Reported by Mr. JEFFORDS, with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

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,
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•S 632 RS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

3 Enhancement and Awareness Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress makes the following findings:

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

7 are reported to poison control centers throughout

8 the United States. More than 90 percent of these

9 poisonings happen in the home. 53 percent of poi10 soning victims are children younger than 6 years of

11 age.

12 (2) Poison control centers are a valuable na13 tional resource that provide life-saving and cost-ef14 fective public health services. For every dollar spent

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

16 saved. The average cost of a poisoning exposure call

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

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

19 2 decades, the instability and lack of funding has re20 sulted in a steady decline in the number of poison

21 control centers in the United States. Within just the

22 last year, 2 poison control centers have been forced

23 to close because of funding problems. A third poison

24 control center is scheduled to close in April 1999.

25 Currently, there are 73 such centers.
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1 (3) Stabilizing the funding structure and in2 creasing accessibility to poison control centers will

3 increase the number of United States residents who

4 have access to a certified poison control center, and

5 reduce the inappropriate use of emergency medical

6 services and other more costly health care services.

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITION.

8 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec9 retary of Health and Human Services.

10 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL TOLL-FREE

11 NUMBER.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide co13 ordination and assistance to regional poison control cen14 ters for the establishment of a nationwide toll-free phone

15 number to be used to access such centers.

16 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

17 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section,

18 $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through

19 2004.

20 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONWIDE MEDIA

21 CAMPAIGN.

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

23 national media campaign to educate the public and health

24 care providers about poison prevention and the availability

25 of poison control resources in local communities and to
4

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1 conduct advertising campaigns concerning the nationwide

2 toll-free number established under section 4.

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

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

5 1 or more nationally recognized media firms for the devel6 opment and distribution of monthly television, radio, and

7 newspaper public service announcements.

8 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

9 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section,

10 $600,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through 2004.

11 SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF A GRANT PROGRAM.

12 (a) REGIONAL POISON CONTROL CENTERS.—The

13 Secretary shall award grants to certified regional poison

14 control centers for the purposes of achieving the financial

15 stability of such centers, and for preventing and providing

16 treatment recommendations for poisonings.

17 (b) OTHER IMPROVEMENTS.—The Secretary shall

18 also use amounts received under this section to—

19 (1) develop standard education programs;

20 (2) develop standard patient management pro21 tocols for commonly encountered toxic exposures;

22 (3) improve and expand the poison control data

23 collection systems;

24 (4) improve national toxic exposure surveillance;

25 and
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1 (5) expand the physician/medical toxicologist

2 supervision of poison control centers.

3 (c) CERTIFICATION.—Except as provided in sub4 section (d), the Secretary may make a grant to a center

5 under subsection (a) only if—

6 (1) the center has been certified by a profes7 sional organization in the field of poison control, and

8 the Secretary has approved the organization as hav9 ing in effect standards for certification that reason10 ably provide for the protection of the public health

11 with respect to poisoning; or

12 (2) the center has been certified by a State gov13 ernment, and the Secretary has approved the State

14 government as having in effect standards for certifi15 cation that reasonably provide for the protection of

16 the public health with respect to poisoning.

17 (d) WAIVER OF CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—

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

19 waiver of the certification requirement of subsection

20 (c) with respect to a noncertified poison control cen21 ter or a newly established center that applies for a

22 grant under this section if such center can reason23 ably demonstrate that the center will obtain such a

24 certification within a reasonable period of time as

25 determined appropriate by the Secretary.
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1 (2) RENEWAL.—The Secretary may only renew

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

3 years.

4 (e) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Amounts made

5 available to a poison control center under this section shall

6 be used to supplement and not supplant other Federal,

7 State, local or private funds provided for such center.

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

9 center, in utilizing the proceeds of a grant under this sec10 tion, shall maintain the expenditures of the center for ac11 tivities of the center at a level that is not less than the

12 level of such expenditures maintained by the center for

13 the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the

14 grant is received.

15 (g) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary may

16 impose a matching requirement with respect to amounts

17 provided under a grant under this section if the Secretary

18 determines appropriate.

19 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

20 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section,

21 $25,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through

22 2004.

23 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

25 Enhancement and Awareness Act’’.
7

•S 632 RS

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 the

5 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-effec11 tive public health services. For every dollar spent on

12 poison control centers, $7 in medical costs are saved.

13 The average cost of a poisoning exposure call is $32,

14 while the average cost if other parts of the medical

15 system are involved is $932. Over the last 2 decades,

16 the instability and lack of funding has resulted in a

17 steady decline in the number of poison control centers

18 in the United States. Within just the last year, 2 poi19 son control centers have been forced to close because

20 of funding problems. A third poison control center is

21 scheduled to close in April 1999. Currently, there are

22 73 such centers.

23 (3) Stabilizing the funding structure and in24 creasing accessibility to poison control centers will in25 crease the number of United States residents who have

26 access to a certified poison control center, and reduce
8

•S 632 RS

1 the inappropriate use of emergency medical services

2 and other more costly health care services.

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITION.

4 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

5 of Health and Human Services.

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

7 NUMBER.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide coordi9 nation and assistance to regional poison control centers for

10 the establishment of a nationwide toll-free phone number

11 to be used to access such centers.

12 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section

13 shall be construed as prohibiting the establishment or con14 tinued operation of any privately funded nationwide toll15 free phone number used to provide advice and other assist16 ance 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 2004.

20 Funds appropriated under this subsection shall not be used

21 to fund any toll-free phone number described in subsection

22 (b).
9

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1 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONWIDE MEDIA

2 CAMPAIGN.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a na4 tional 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 con7 duct advertising campaigns concerning the nationwide toll8 free number established under section 4.

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

10 carry out subsection (a) by entering into contracts with 1

11 or more nationally recognized media firms for the develop12 ment 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 Sec19 retary shall award grants to certified regional poison con20 trol centers for the purposes of achieving the financial sta21 bility of such centers, and for preventing and providing

22 treatment recommendations for poisonings.

23 (b) OTHER IMPROVEMENTS.—The Secretary shall also

24 use amounts received under this section to—

25 (1) develop standard education programs;
10

•S 632 RS

1 (2) develop standard patient management proto2 cols 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 su8 pervision of poison control centers.

9 (c) CERTIFICATION.—Except as provided in subsection

10 (d), the Secretary may make a grant to a center under sub11 section (a) only if—

12 (1) the center has been certified by a professional

13 organization in the field of poison control, and the

14 Secretary has approved the organization as having in

15 effect standards for certification that reasonably pro16 vide for the protection of the public health with re17 spect 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
11

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1 (c) with respect to a noncertified poison control center

2 or a newly established center that applies for a grant

3 under this section if such center can reasonably dem4 onstrate that the center will obtain such a certifi5 cation within a reasonable period of time as deter6 mined appropriate by the Secretary.

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

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

9 (e) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Amounts made

10 available to a poison control center under this section shall

11 be used to supplement and not supplant other Federal,

12 State, or local funds provided for such center.

13 (f) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—A poison control cen14 ter, in utilizing the proceeds of a grant under this section,

15 shall maintain the expenditures of the center for activities

16 of the center at a level that is not less than the level of

17 such expenditures maintained by the center for the fiscal

18 year preceding the fiscal year for which the grant is re19 ceived.

20 (g) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary may

21 impose a matching requirement with respect to amounts

22 provided under a grant under this section if the Secretary

23 determines appropriate.
12

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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 2004.