S 2932
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2932
To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the poison
center national toll-free number, national media campaign, and grant
program to provide assistance for poison prevention, sustain the funding
of poison centers, and enhance the public health of people of the United
States.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 29, 2008
Mrs. MURRAY (for herself and Mr. BURR) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the poison
center national toll-free number, national media campaign, and grant
program to provide assistance for poison prevention, sustain the funding
of poison centers, and enhance the public health of people of the United
States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Poison Center Support, Enhancement, and
Awareness Act of 2008'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Poison control centers are the primary defense of the United States
against injury and deaths from poisoning. Twenty-four hours a day,
the general public as well as health care practitioners contact their
local poison control centers for help in diagnosing and treating victims
of poisoning. In 2007, more than 4,000,000 calls were managed by poison
control centers providing ready and direct access for all people of
the United States, including many underserved populations in the United
States, with vital emergency public health information and response.
(2) Poisoning is the second most common form of unintentional death
in the United States. In any given year, there will be between 3,000,000
and 5,000,000 poison exposures. Sixty percent of these exposures will
involve children under the age of 6 who are exposed to toxins in their
home. Poisoning accounts for 285,000 hospitalizations, 1,200,000 days
of acute hospital care, and more than 26,000 fatalities in 2005.
(3) In 2008, the Harvard Injury Control Research Center reported that
poisonings from accidents and unknown circumstances more than tripled
in rate since 1990. In 2005, the last year for which data are available,
26,858 people died from accidental or unknown poisonings. This represents
an increase of 20,000 since 1990 and an increase of 2,400 between
2004 and 2005. Fatalities from poisoning are increasing in the United
States in near epidemic proportions. The funding of programs to reverse
this trend is needed now more than ever.
(4) In 2004, The Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of
Sciences recommended that `Congress should amend the current Poison
Control Center Enhancement and Awareness Act Amendments of 2003 to
provide sufficient funding to support the proposed Poison Prevention
and Control System with its national network of poison centers. Support
for the core activities at the current level of service is estimated
to require more than $100 million annually.'.
(5) Sustaining the funding structure and increasing 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. The 2004 Institute of
Medicine Report to Congress determined that for every $1 invested
in the Nation's poison control centers $7 of health care costs are
saved. In 2005, direct Federal health care program savings totaled
in excess of $525,000,000 as the result of poison control center public
health services.
(6) More than 30 percent of the cost savings and financial benefits
of the Nation's network of poison control centers are realized annually
by Federal health care programs (estimated to be more than $1,000,000,000),
yet Federal funding support (as demonstrated by the annual authorization
of $30,100,000 in Public Law 108-194) comprises less than 11 percent
of the annual network expenditures of poison centers.
(7) Real-time data collected from the Nation's certified poison control
centers can be an important source of information for the detection,
monitoring, and response for contamination of the air, water, pharmaceutical,
or food supply.
(8) In the event of a terrorist event, poison control centers will
be relied upon as a critical source for accurate medical information
and public health emergency response concerning the treatment of patients
who have had an exposure to a chemical, radiological, or biological
agent.
SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF POISON CONTROL CENTERS NATIONAL TOLL-FREE
NUMBER.
Section 1271 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300d-71) is
amended to read as follows:
`SEC. 1271. MAINTENANCE OF THE NATIONAL TOLL-FREE NUMBER.
`(a) In General- The Secretary shall provide coordination and assistance
to poison control centers for the establishment of a nationwide toll-free
phone number, and the maintenance of such number, to be used to access
such centers.
`(b) Authorization of Appropriations- There is authorized to be appropriated
$2,000,000 for fiscal year 2009 to carry out this section, and $1,000,000
for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014 for the maintenance of the
nationwide toll free phone number under subsection (a).'.
SEC. 4. REAUTHORIZATION OF NATIONWIDE MEDIA CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE POISON
CONTROL CENTER UTILIZATION.
(a) In General- Section 1272 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
300d-72) is amended to read as follows:
`SEC. 1272. NATIONWIDE MEDIA CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE POISON CONTROL CENTER
UTILIZATION.
`(a) In General- The Secretary shall carry out, and expand upon, a national
media campaign to educate the public and health care providers about
poison prevention and the availability of poison control center resources
in local communities and to conduct advertising campaigns concerning
the nationwide toll-free number established under section 1271(a).
`(b) Contract With Entity- The Secretary may carry out subsection (a)
by entering into contracts with one or more public or private entities,
including nationally recognized organizations in the field of poison
control and national media firms, for the development and implementation
of a nationwide poison prevention and poison control center awareness
campaign, which may include--
`(1) the development and distribution of poison prevention and poison
control center awareness materials;
`(2) television, radio, Internet, and newspaper public service announcements;
and
`(3) other activities to provide for public and professional awareness
and education.
`(c) Evaluation- The Secretary shall--
`(1) establish baseline measures and benchmarks to quantitatively
evaluate the impact of the nationwide media campaign carried out under
this section; and
`(2) on an annual basis, prepare and submit to the appropriate committees
of Congress, an evaluation of the nationwide media campaign.
`(d) Authorization of Appropriations- There is authorized to be appropriated
to carry out this section, such sums as may be necessary for fiscal
year 2009, and $1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014.'.
(b) Effective Date- The amendment made by this section shall be effective
on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply to contracts
entered into on or after January 1, 2009.
SEC. 5. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE POISON CONTROL CENTER GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) In General- Section 1273 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
300d-73) is amended to read as follows:
`SEC. 1273. MAINTENANCE OF THE POISON CONTROL CENTER GRANT PROGRAM.
`(a) Authorization of Program- The Secretary shall award grants to poison
control centers certified under subsection (c) (or granted a waiver
under subsection (d)) and professional organizations in the field of
poison control for the purposes of preventing, and providing treatment
recommendations for, poisonings and complying with the operational requirements
needed to sustain the certification of the center under subsection (c).
`(b) Additional Uses of Grant Funds- In addition to the purposes described
in subsection (a), a poison center or professional organization awarded
a grant under such subsection may also use amounts received under such
grant--
`(1) to establish and evaluate best practices in the United States
for poison prevention, poison control center outreach, and emergency
and preparedness programs;
`(2) to research, develop, implement, revise, and communicate standard
patient management guidelines for commonly encountered toxic exposures;
`(3) to improve national toxic exposure surveillance by enhancing
cooperative activities between poison control centers in the United
States and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
`(4) to develop, support, and enhance technology and capabilities
of professional organizations in the field of poison control to collect
national poisoning, toxic occurrence, and related public health data;
`(5) to develop initiatives to foster the enhanced public health utilization
of national poison data collected by organizations described in paragraph
(4);
`(6) to support and expand the toxicologic expertise within poison
control centers; and
`(7) to improve the capacity of poison control centers to answer high
volumes of calls and respond during times of national crisis or other
public health emergencies.
`(c) Certification- Except as provided in subsection (d), the Secretary
may award a grant to a poison control center under subsection (a) only
if--
`(1) the center has been certified by a professional organization
in the field of poison control, and the Secretary has approved the
organization as having in effect standards for certification that
reasonably provide for the protection of the public health with respect
to poisoning; or
`(2) the center has been certified by a State government, and the
Secretary has approved the State government as having in effect standards
for certification that reasonably provide for the protection of the
public health with respect to poisoning.
`(d) Waiver of Certification Requirements-
`(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary may grant a waiver of the certification
requirements of subsection (c) with respect to a noncertified poison
control center that applies for a grant under this section if such
center can reasonably demonstrate that the center will obtain such
a certification within a reasonable period of time as determined appropriate
by the Secretary.
`(2) RENEWAL- The Secretary may renew a waiver under paragraph (1).
`(3) LIMITATION- In no case 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 of the date of
the enactment of the Poison Center Support, Enhancement, and Awareness
Act of 2008.
`(e) Supplement Not Supplant- Amounts made available to a poison control
center under this section shall be used to supplement and not supplant
other Federal, State, or local funds provided for such center.
`(f) Maintenance of Effort- A poison control center, in utilizing the
proceeds of a grant under this section, shall maintain the expenditures
of the center for activities of the center at a level that is not less
than the level of expenditures maintained by the center for the fiscal
year preceding the fiscal year for which the grant is received.
`(g) Authorization of Appropriations- There is authorized to be appropriated
to carry out this section, $27,500,000 for fiscal year 2009, and $35,000,000
for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014.'.
(b) Effective Date- The amendment made by this section shall be effective
as of the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply to grants
made on or after January 1, 2009.
END
