I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1221

To provide assistance for poison prevention and to stabilize the funding

of regional poison control centers.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 23, 1999

Mr. UPTON (for himself, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Ms. ESHOO, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. LEACH, Mr. STARK, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr.

LATOURETTE, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. NEY, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. CAMP,

Ms. BROWN of Florida, Ms. PELOSI, Ms. BERKLEY, Ms. KILPATRICK,

Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, and Mr.

CLAY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Commerce

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

2 are reported to poison control centers throughout

3 the United States. More than 90 percent of these

4 poisonings happen in the home. 53 percent of poi5 soning victims are children younger than 6 years of

6 age.

7 (2) Poison control centers are a valuable na8 tional resource that provide life-saving and cost-ef9 fective public health services. For every dollar spent

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

11 saved. The average cost of a poisoning exposure call

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

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

14 2 decades, the instability and lack of funding has re15 sulted in a steady decline in the number of poison

16 control centers in the United States. Within just the

17 last year, 2 poison control centers have been forced

18 to close because of funding problems. A third poison

19 control center is scheduled to close in April 1999.

20 Currently, there are 73 such centers.

21 (3) Stabilizing the funding structure and in22 creasing accessibility to poison control centers will

23 increase the number of United States residents who

24 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) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

13 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section,

14 $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through

15 2004.

16 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONWIDE MEDIA CAM17 PAIGN.

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

19 national media campaign to educate the public and health

20 care providers about poison prevention and the availability

21 of poison control resources in local communities and to

22 conduct advertising campaigns concerning the nationwide

23 toll-free number established under section 4.

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

25 carry out subsection (a) by entering into contracts with
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1 1 or more nationally recognized media firms for the devel2 opment and distribution of monthly television, radio, and

3 newspaper public service announcements.

4 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

5 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section,

6 $600,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through 2004.

7 SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF A GRANT PROGRAM.

8 (a) REGIONAL POISON CONTROL CENTERS.—The

9 Secretary shall award grants to certified regional poison

10 control centers for the purposes of achieving the financial

11 stability of such centers, and for preventing and providing

12 treatment recommendations for poisonings.

13 (b) OTHER IMPROVEMENTS.—The Secretary shall

14 also use amounts received under this section to—

15 (1) develop standard education programs;

16 (2) develop standard patient management pro17 tocols for commonly encountered toxic exposures;

18 (3) improve and expand the poison control data

19 collection systems;

20 (4) improve national toxic exposure surveillance;

21 and

22 (5) expand the physician/medical toxicologist

23 supervision of poison control centers.
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1 (c) CERTIFICATION.—Except as provided in sub2 section (d), the Secretary may make a grant to a center

3 under subsection (a) only if—

4 (1) the center has been certified by a profes5 sional organization in the field of poison control, and

6 the Secretary has approved the organization as hav7 ing in effect standards for certification that reason8 ably provide for the protection of the public health

9 with respect to poisoning; or

10 (2) the center has been certified by a State gov11 ernment, and the Secretary has approved the State

12 government as having in effect standards for certifi13 cation that reasonably provide for the protection of

14 the public health with respect to poisoning.

15 (d) WAIVER OF CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—

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

17 waiver of the certification requirement of subsection

18 (c) with respect to a noncertified poison control cen19 ter or a newly established center that applies for a

20 grant under this section if such center can reason21 ably demonstrate that the center will obtain such a

22 certification within a reasonable period of time as

23 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.

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