I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1819
To provide assistance for poison prevention and to stabilize the funding 
of regional poison control centers. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 11, 2003
Mr. UPTON (for himself, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. CAMP, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. GREEN-
WOOD, and Mr. JOHN) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To provide assistance for poison prevention and to stabilize 
the funding of regional poison control centers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Poison Control Center 
Enhancement and Awareness Act Amendments of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Section 2 of the Poison Control Enhancement and 
Awareness Act (42 U.S.C. 14801) is amended to read as 
follows:
‘‘SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
‘‘Congress finds the following: 
‘‘(1) Poison control centers are our Nation’s 
primary defense against injury and deaths from poi-
soning. Twenty-four hours a day, the general public 
as well as health care practitioners contact their 
local poison centers for help in diagnosing and treat-
ing victims of poisoning and other toxic exposures. 
‘‘(2) Poisoning is the third most common form 
of unintentional death in the United States. In any 
given year, there will be between 2,000,000 and 
4,000,000 poison exposures. More than 50 percent 
of these exposures will involve children under the age 
of 6 who are exposed to toxic substances in their 
home. Poisoning accounts for 285,000 hospitaliza-
tions, 1,200,000 days of acute hospital care, and 
13,000 fatalities annually. 
‘‘(3) Stabilizing the funding structure and in-
creasing accessibility to poison control centers will 
promote the utilization of poison control centers, and 
reduce the inappropriate use of emergency medical 
services and other more costly health care services. 
‘‘(4) The tragic events of September 11, 2001, 
and the anthrax cases of October 2001, have dra-
matically changed our Nation. During this time pe-
riod, poison centers in many areas of the country
were answering thousands of additional calls from 
concerned residents. Many poison centers were relied 
upon as a source for accurate medical information 
about the disease and the complications resulting 
from prophylactic antibiotic therapy. 
‘‘(5) The 2001 Presidential Task Force on Cit-
izen Preparedness in the War on Terrorism rec-
ommended that the Poison Control Centers be used 
as a source of public information and public edu-
cation regarding potential biological, chemical, and 
nuclear domestic terrorism. 
‘‘(6) The increased demand placed upon poison 
centers to provide emergency information in the 
event of a terrorist event involving a biological, 
chemical, or nuclear toxin will dramatically increase 
call volume.’’. 
SEC. 3. MAINTENANCE OF A NATIONAL TOLL FREE NUM-
BER. 
Section 4 of the Poison Control Enhancement and 
Awareness Act (42 U.S.C. 14803) is amended—
(1) by striking the section heading and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘SEC. 4. MAINTENANCE OF A NATIONAL TOLL-FREE NUM-
BER.’’; 
and
(2) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘and 
$2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 
2009’’ after ‘‘2004’’. 
SEC. 4. NATIONWIDE MEDIA CAMPAIGN. 
Section 5 of the Poison Control Enhancement and 
Awareness Act (42 U.S.C. 14804) is amended—
(1) by striking the section heading and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘SEC. 5. NATIONWIDE MEDIA CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE POI-
SON CONTROL CENTER UTILIZATION.’’; 
and 
(2) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘and 
$1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 
2009’’ after ‘‘2004’’. 
SEC. 5. POISON CONTROL CENTER GRANT PROGRAM. 
Section 6 of the Poison Control Enhancement and 
Awareness Act (42 U.S.C. 14805) is amended—
(1) by striking the section heading and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘SEC. 6. MAINTENANCE OF THE POISON CONTROL CENTER 
GRANT PROGRAM.’’; 
(2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(b) OTHER IMPROVEMENTS.—The Secretary shall 
also use amounts received under this section to—
‘‘(1) develop standardized poison prevention 
and poison control promotion programs; 
‘‘(2) develop standard patient management 
guidelines for commonly encountered toxic expo-
sures; 
‘‘(3) improve and expand the poison control 
data collection systems; 
‘‘(4) improve national toxic exposure surveil-
lance; 
‘‘(5) expand the toxicologic expertise within poi-
son control centers; and 
‘‘(6) improve the capacity of poison control cen-
ters to answer high volumes of calls during times of 
national crisis.’’; 
(3) by striking subsection (d)(2) and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘(2) RENEWAL.—The Secretary may renew a 
waiver under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—In no instance may the sum 
of the number of years for a waiver under paragraph 
(1) and a renewal under paragraph (2) exceed 5 
years. The preceding sentence shall take effect as if 
enacted on February 25, 2000.’’; and
(4) in subsection (h), by inserting ‘‘and 
$30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 
2009’’ after ‘‘2004’’. 
SEC. 6. NATIONWIDE TOXICOSURVEILLANCE OF POISON 
CENTER DATA TO PROMOTE HAZARD DETEC-
TION. 
The Poison Control Enhancement and Awareness Act 
(42 U.S.C. 14801 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 7. NATIONWIDE TOXICOSURVEILLANCE OF POISON 
CENTER DATA TO PROMOTE HAZARD DETEC-
TION. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall assist in the 
implementation and maintenance of continuous national 
toxicosurveillance of poison control center data to detect 
new hazards from toxic substances, household products, 
pharmaceuticals, and traditionally abused drugs. 
‘‘(b) CONTRACT FOR SERVICES.—The Secretary may 
enter into a contract with appropriate professional organi-
zations for the collection and analysis of poison center 
data described in subsection (a) in real time. 
‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 
$2,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2009.’’.
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