[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 123 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 123
Recognizing the week of March 19 through March 25, 2023, 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 23, 2023
Mr. Brown (for himself, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, and Mr.
Blumenthal) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the week of March 19 through March 25, 2023, 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, in 2021 to 2022, poison centers managed more than 5,000,000 human
exposure cases and information requests, including--
(1) opioid and fentanyl misuse;
(2) suicide attempts, including those among adolescents and teenagers;
and
(3) accidental edible cannabis ingestion;
Whereas poison centers are on the front lines assisting throughout the United
States with emergency disasters in our communities, including the East
Palestine, Ohio, train derailment where Ohio poison centers are working
around the clock with Federal, State, and local officials, as well as
other poison centers including, the Pittsburgh Poison Center, to ensure
that impacted communities have the resources they need to have their
questions answered, and to provide guidance to local healthcare
providers on how to assist people experiencing symptoms;
Whereas poison control centers responded during the COVID-19 pandemic to COVID-
19 related surges by conducting poison safety and poisoning prevention
outreach in a virtual format, and handled increases in cases relating to
hand sanitizer and household cleaning products;
Whereas America's Poison Centers 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 database contains over 447,000 products,
ranging from viral and bacterial agents to commercial chemical and drug
products;
Whereas local poison control centers save the people of the United States
$1,800,000,000 in medical costs annually;
Whereas America's Poison Centers 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, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, in 2020, an
estimated 61,500 children younger than 5 years of age were treated in
emergency rooms due to unintended poisonings;
Whereas, in 2021, children younger than 6 years of age constituted 41 percent of
all poison exposures;
Whereas, from 2012 to 2022, the number of adolescents 10 to 19 years of age seen
for a suicide attempt has nearly doubled, and that has
disproportionately affected female adolescents;
Whereas, in 2022, more than 90,000 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 acetaminophen, edible cannabis, melatonin, ibuprofen, laundry
packets, bleach, diphenhydramine, blood pressure medications, sedatives,
and anti-anxiety medication;
Whereas an analysis of the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System
shows--
(1) an increased incidence of ingestion of dangerous foreign bodies
like button batteries and high-powered magnets during the COVID-19
pandemic; and
(2) evidence that parents and caregivers sought care for foreign body
ingestions either because they knew the relative danger of the object
ingested or because they sought advice from available resources like the
poison control centers;
Whereas 107,622 deaths due to drug overdose were reported in the United States
in 2021, and the majority of those cases, approximately 71 percent,
involved an opioid, primarily synthetic opioids like fentanyl;
Whereas, in 2021, the most common substances that individuals 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 America's Poison Centers;
Whereas poison control centers issue guidance and provide support to
individuals, including individuals who experience medication and dosing
errors;
Whereas more than 40 percent of calls to the poison help line are from
individuals 20 years of age or older, with nearly 50 percent 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 America's Poison Centers 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 or
accessing PoisonHelp.org;
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 19 through March 25, 2023,
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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