[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 51 (Friday, March 22, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S2606]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





 SENATE RESOLUTION 625--RECOGNIZING THE WEEK OF MARCH 17 THROUGH MARCH 
   23, 2024, 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 considered 
and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 625

       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 2022, poison centers responded to more than 
     2,000,000 human exposure cases and information requests, 
     including--
       (1) opioid and fentanyl misuse;
       (2) suicide attempts, including those by adolescents and 
     teens; 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;
       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 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) 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 contains over 
     466,000 products, ranging from viral and bacterial agents to 
     commercial chemical and drug products;
       Whereas local poison control centers save the people in 
     medical costs;
       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 under the 
     age of 5 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, 
     or sedatives or anti-anxiety medication;
       Whereas an analysis of the National Electronic Injury 
     Surveillance System shows--
       (1) children experienced 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 75 percent, involved an opioid, 
     primarily synthetic opioids like fentanyl;
       Whereas, in 2021, the most common substances that 
     individuals called the poison helpline 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 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 
     helpline are from individuals 20 years of age or older, 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 active, curious children will often investigate and 
     sometimes ingest things they find, and every day over 300 
     children between the ages of 0 to 19 are treated for 
     accidental poisoning in the United States;
       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, children can still open child-
     resistant packages within a reasonable time; 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 17 through March 23, 2024, 
     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 who supported 
     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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