II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1862

To provide assistance for poison prevention and to stabilize the funding

of regional poison control centers.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 25, 1998

Mr. DEWINE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

5 Enhancement and Awareness Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:

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

9 are reported to poison control centers throughout

10 the United States. More than 90 percent of these
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1 poisonings happen in the home. 53 percent of poi2 soning victims are children younger than 6 years of

3 age.

4 (2) Poison centers are life-saving and cost-effec5 tive public health services. For every dollar spent on

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

7 The average cost of a poisoning exposure call is

8 $31.28, while the average cost if other parts of the

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

10 2 decades, the instability and lack of funding has re11 sulted in a steady decline in the number of poison

12 control centers in the United States. Currently,

13 there are 75 such centers.

14 (3) Stabilizing the funding structure and in15 creasing accessibility to poison control centers will

16 increase the number of United States residents who

17 have access to a certified poison control center, and

18 reduce the inappropriate use of emergency medical

19 services and other more costly health care services.

20 SEC. 3. DEFINITION.

21 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec22 retary of Health and Human Services.
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1 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL TOLL-FREE

2 NUMBER.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide co4 ordination and assistance to regional poison control cen5 ters for the establishment of a nationwide toll-free phone

6 number to be used to access such centers.

7 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

8 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section,

9 $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1999 through

10 2001.

11 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONWIDE MEDIA CAM12 PAIGN.

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

14 national media campaign to educate the public and health

15 care providers about poison prevention and the availability

16 of poison control resources in local communities and to

17 conduct advertising campaigns concerning the nationwide

18 toll-free number established under section 4.

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

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

21 1 or more nationally recognized media firms for the devel22 opment and distribution of monthly television, radio, and

23 newspaper public service announcements.

24 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

25 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section,

26 $600,000 for each of the fiscal years 1999 through 2003.
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1 SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF A GRANT PROGRAM.

2 (a) REGIONAL POISON CONTROL CENTERS.—The

3 Secretary shall award grants to certified regional poison

4 control centers for the purposes of achieving the financial

5 stability of such centers, and for preventing and providing

6 treatment recommendations for poisonings.

7 (b) OTHER IMPROVEMENTS.—The Secretary shall

8 also use amounts received under this section to—

9 (1) develop standard education programs;

10 (2) develop standard patient management pro11 tocols for commonly encountered toxic exposures;

12 (3) improve and expand the poison control data

13 collection systems; and

14 (4) improve national toxic exposure surveillance.

15 (c) CERTIFICATION.—Except as provided in sub16 section (d), the Secretary may make a grant to a center

17 under subsection (a) only if the center has been certified

18 by a professional organization in the field of poison con19 trol, and the Secretary has approved the organization as

20 having in effect standards for certification that reasonably

21 provide for the protection of the public health with respect

22 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

26 (a) with respect to a noncertified poison control cen-
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1 ter that applies for a grant under this section if such

2 center can reasonably demonstrate that the center

3 will obtain such a certification within a reasonable

4 period of time as determined appropriate by the Sec5 retary.

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

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

8 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, local or private funds provided for such center.

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

14 center, in utilizing the proceeds of a grant under this sec15 tion, shall maintain the expenditures of the center for ac16 tivities of the center at a level that is equal to not less

17 than the level of such expenditures maintained by the cen18 ter for the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which

19 the grant is received.

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.

24 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

25 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section,
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1 $25,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1999 through

2 2001.

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