[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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