[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 144 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 144

Recognizing the week of March 21 through March 27, 2021, as ``National 
Poison Prevention Week'' and encouraging communities across the United 
   States to raise awareness of the dangers of poisoning and promote 
                           poison prevention.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 25, 2021

 Mr. Brown (for himself and Mr. Scott of South Carolina) submitted the 
        following resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Recognizing the week of March 21 through March 27, 2021, as ``National 
Poison Prevention Week'' and encouraging communities across the United 
   States to raise awareness of the dangers of poisoning and promote 
                           poison prevention.

Whereas the designation of National Poison Prevention Week was first authorized 
        by Congress and President Kennedy in 1961 in Public Law 87-319 (75 Stat. 
        681);
Whereas National Poison Prevention Week occurs during the third full week of 
        March each year;
Whereas, as of February 10, 2021, poison centers have handled more than 838,000 
        cases related to the COVID-19 pandemic alone and have seen dramatic 
        increases in cases relating to hand sanitizer and household cleaning 
        products;
Whereas poison control centers responded to COVID-19 related surges by 
        conducting poison safety and poisoning prevention outreach in a virtual 
        format during the COVID-19 pandemic;
Whereas the American Association of Poison Control Centers (referred to in this 
        preamble as the ``AAPCC'') works with the 55 poison control centers in 
        the United States to track--

    (1) more than 1,000 commonly used household and workplace products that 
can cause poisoning; and

    (2) poisonings and the sources of those poisonings;

Whereas the National Poison Data System (NPDS) database contains over 447,000 
        products, ranging from viral and bacterial agents to commercial chemical 
        and drug products;
Whereas, in 2019, 2,148,141 people called the poison help line to reach a poison 
        control center;
Whereas, in 2019, as reported to the AAPCC, 92 percent of poison exposures 
        reported to local poison control centers occurred in the home;
Whereas local poison control centers save the people of the United States 
        $1,800,000,000 in medical costs annually;
Whereas the AAPCC and poison control centers partner with the Centers for 
        Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and 
        State, local, Tribal, and territorial health departments to monitor 
        occurrences of environmental, biological, and emerging threats in 
        communities across the United States, including food poisoning, 
        botulism, and vaping-associated lung injury;
Whereas, in the United States, more than 300 children 19 years of age and 
        younger are treated in emergency departments for poisoning every day, 
        and more than 130 children 19 years of age and younger die as a result 
        of being poisoned each year;
Whereas, in 2019, children younger than 6 years of age constituted 43 percent of 
        all poison exposures;
Whereas, from 2000 to 2018, data from poison control centers revealed a 
        significant increase of an average of 3.4 percent per year in the number 
        of intentional suicide patients who were adolescents 10 to 24 years of 
        age, and that increase disproportionately occurred among females;
Whereas, in 2021, poison control centers are seeing an increase in suspected 
        suicides in individuals ranging from 11 to 14 years of age;
Whereas, in 2019, more than 114,000 children 19 years of age and younger were 
        treated in an emergency room due to unintended pediatric poisoning, and 
        more than 90 percent of those incidents occurred in the home, most often 
        with blood pressure medications, acetaminophen, laundry packets, bleach, 
        or sedatives or anti-anxiety medication;
Whereas there was a 444 percent increase in pediatric magnet ingestion cases 
        reported to United States poison control centers from 2018 to 2019 based 
        on an analysis of the National Poison Data System (NPDS), demonstrating 
        the significant risk of injury from high-powered magnet ingestions;
Whereas 70,237 cases of death due to drug overdose were reported in the United 
        States in 2017, and the majority of those cases, approximately 68 
        percent, involved an opioid;
Whereas, in 2019, the most common medications that adults called the poison help 
        line about were prescription and non-prescription pain relievers, 
        household cleaning substances, cosmetics and personal care products, and 
        antidepressants;
Whereas pain medications lead the list of the most common substances implicated 
        in adult poison exposures, and are the single most frequent cause of 
        pediatric fatalities reported to the AAPCC;
Whereas poison control centers issue guidance and provide support to 
        individuals, including individuals who experience medication and dosing 
        errors;
Whereas more than 60 percent of calls to the poison help line are from 
        individuals 20 years of age or older, with more than half of those calls 
        involving patients older than 50 years of age, and a common reason for 
        those calls is therapeutic errors, including questions regarding drug 
        interactions, incorrect dosing route, timing of doses, and double doses;
Whereas normal, curious children younger than 6 years of age are in stages of 
        growth and development in which they are constantly exploring and 
        investigating the world around them, and are often unable to read or 
        recognize warning labels;
Whereas the AAPCC engages in community outreach by educating the public on 
        poison safety and poisoning prevention, and provides educational 
        resources, materials, and guidelines to educate the public on poisoning 
        prevention;
Whereas individuals can reach a poison control center from anywhere in the 
        United States by calling the poison help line at 1-800-222-1222;
Whereas, despite regulations of the Consumer Product Safety Commission requiring 
        that a child-resistant package be designed or constructed to be 
        significantly difficult for children under 5 years of age to open, or 
        obtain a harmful amount of the contents, within a reasonable time, 
        children can still open child-resistant packages; and
Whereas, each year during National Poison Prevention Week, the Federal 
        Government assesses the progress made by the Federal Government in 
        saving lives and reaffirms the national commitment of the Federal 
        Government to preventing injuries and deaths from poisoning: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes the week of March 21 through March 27, 2021, 
        as ``National Poison Prevention Week'';
            (2) expresses gratitude for the people who operate or 
        support poison control centers in their local communities;
            (3) expresses gratitude for frontline workers supporting 
        poison prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic;
            (4) supports efforts and resources to provide poison 
        prevention guidance or emergency assistance in response to 
        poisonings; and
            (5) encourages--
                    (A) the people of the United States to educate 
                their communities and families about poison safety and 
                poisoning prevention; and
                    (B) health care providers to practice and promote 
                poison safety and poisoning prevention.
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