[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 53 (Thursday, March 23, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S937-S938]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 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

  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:

                              S. Res. 123

       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;

[[Page S938]]

       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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