[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 122, 110th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

122 STAT. 4063

Public Law 110-377
110th Congress

An Act


 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the poison center
national toll-free number, national media campaign, and grant program to
provide assistance for poison prevention, sustain the funding of poison
centers, and enhance the public health of people of the United
States. [NOTE: Oct. 8, 2008 -  [S. 2932]]

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress [NOTE: Poison Center Support,
Enhancement, and Awareness Act of 2008.] assembled,
SECTION 1. [NOTE: 42 USC 201 note.] SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Poison Center Support, Enhancement,
and Awareness Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. [NOTE: 42 USC 300d-71 note.] FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Poison control centers are the primary defense of the
United States against injury and deaths from poisoning. Twenty-
four hours a day, the general public as well as health care
practitioners contact their local poison control centers for
help in diagnosing and treating victims of poisoning. In 2007,
more than 4,000,000 calls were managed by poison control centers
providing ready and direct access for all people of the United
States, including many underserved populations in the United
States, with vital emergency public health information and
response.
(2) Poisoning is the second most common form of
unintentional death in the United States. In any given year,
there will be between 3,000,000 and 5,000,000 poison exposures.
Sixty percent of these exposures will involve children under the
age of 6 who are exposed to toxins in their home. Poisoning
accounts for 285,000 hospitalizations, 1,200,000 days of acute
hospital care, and more than 26,000 fatalities in 2005.
(3) In 2008, the Harvard Injury Control Research Center
reported that poisonings from accidents and unknown
circumstances more than tripled in rate since 1990. In 2005, the
last year for which data are available, 26,858 people died from
accidental or unknown poisonings. This represents an increase of
20,000 since 1990 and an increase of 2,400 between 2004 and
2005. Fatalities from poisoning are increasing in the United
States in near epidemic proportions. The funding of programs to
reverse this trend is needed now more than ever.
(4) In 2004, The Institute of Medicine of the National
Academy of Sciences recommended that ``Congress should amend the
current Poison Control Center Enhancement and Awareness Act
Amendments of 2003 to provide sufficient

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122 STAT. 4064

funding to support the proposed Poison Prevention and Control
System with its national network of poison centers. Support for
the core activities at the current level of service is estimated
to require more than $100 million annually.''.
(5) Sustaining the funding structure and increasing
accessibility to poison control centers will promote the
utilization of poison control centers and reduce the
inappropriate use of emergency medical services and other more
costly health care services. The 2004 Institute of Medicine
Report to Congress determined that for every $1 invested in the
Nation's poison control centers $7 of health care costs are
saved. In 2005, direct Federal health care program savings
totaled in excess of $525,000,000 as the result of poison
control center public health services.
(6) More than 30 percent of the cost savings and financial
benefits of the Nation's network of poison control centers are
realized annually by Federal health care programs (estimated to
be more than $1,000,000,000), yet Federal funding support (as
demonstrated by the annual authorization of $30,100,000 in
Public Law 108-194) comprises less than 11 percent of the annual
network expenditures of poison centers.
(7) Real-time data collected from the Nation's certified
poison control centers can be an important source of information
for the detection, monitoring, and response for contamination of
the air, water, pharmaceutical, or food supply.
(8) In the event of a terrorist event, poison control
centers will be relied upon as a critical source for accurate
medical information and public health emergency response
concerning the treatment of patients who have had an exposure to
a chemical, radiological, or biological agent.
SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF POISON CONTROL CENTERS NATIONAL TOLL-
FREE NUMBER.

Section 1271 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300d-71) is
amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 1271. MAINTENANCE OF THE NATIONAL TOLL-FREE NUMBER.

``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall provide coordination and
assistance to poison control centers for the establishment of a
nationwide toll-free phone number, and the maintenance of such number,
to be used to access such centers.
``(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2009 to carry out this section,
and $700,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014 for the
maintenance of the nationwide toll free phone number under subsection
(a).''.
SEC. 4. REAUTHORIZATION OF NATIONWIDE MEDIA CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE
POISON CONTROL CENTER UTILIZATION.

(a) In General.--Section 1272 of the Public Health Service Act (42
U.S.C. 300d-72) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 1272. NATIONWIDE MEDIA CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE POISON CONTROL
CENTER UTILIZATION.

``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall carry out, and expand upon, a
national media campaign to educate the public and health care providers
about poison prevention and the availability of poison

[[Page 4065]]
122 STAT. 4065

control center resources in local communities and to conduct advertising
campaigns concerning the nationwide toll-free number established under
section 1271(a).
``(b) Contract With Entity.--The Secretary may carry out subsection
(a) by entering into contracts with one or more public or private
entities, including nationally recognized organizations in the field of
poison control and national media firms, for the development and
implementation of a nationwide poison prevention and poison control
center awareness campaign, which may include--
``(1) the development and distribution of poison prevention
and poison control center awareness materials;
``(2) television, radio, Internet, and newspaper public
service announcements; and
``(3) other activities to provide for public and
professional awareness and education.

``(c) Evaluation.--The Secretary shall--
``(1) establish baseline measures and benchmarks to
quantitatively evaluate the impact of the nationwide media
campaign carried out under this section; and
``(2) on an annual basis, prepare and submit to the
appropriate committees of Congress, an evaluation of the
nationwide media campaign.

``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section, such sums as may be necessary
for fiscal year 2009, and $800,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through
2014.''.
(b) [NOTE: 42 USC 300d-72 note.] Effective Date.--The amendment
made by this section shall be effective on the date of the enactment of
this Act and shall apply to contracts entered into on or after January
1, 2009.
SEC. 5. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE POISON CONTROL CENTER GRANT
PROGRAM.

(a) In General.--Section 1273 of the Public Health Service Act (42
U.S.C. 300d-73) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 1273. MAINTENANCE OF THE POISON CONTROL CENTER GRANT
PROGRAM.

``(a) Authorization of Program.--The Secretary shall award grants to
poison control centers certified under subsection (c) (or granted a
waiver under subsection (d)) and professional organizations in the field
of poison control for the purposes of preventing, and providing
treatment recommendations for, poisonings and complying with the
operational requirements needed to sustain the certification of the
center under subsection (c).
``(b) Additional Uses of Funds.--In addition to the purposes
described in subsection (a), a poison center or professional
organization awarded a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under
such subsection may also use amounts received under such grant,
contract, or cooperative agreement--
``(1) to establish and evaluate best practices in the United
States for poison prevention, poison control center outreach,
and emergency and preparedness programs;
``(2) to research, develop, implement, revise, and
communicate standard patient management guidelines for commonly
encountered toxic exposures;
``(3) to improve national toxic exposure surveillance by
enhancing cooperative activities between poison control centers

[[Page 4066]]
122 STAT. 4066

in the United States and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention;
``(4) to develop, support, and enhance technology and
capabilities of professional organizations in the field of
poison control to collect national poisoning, toxic occurrence,
and related public health data;
``(5) to develop initiatives to foster the enhanced public
health utilization of national poison data collected by
organizations described in paragraph (4);
``(6) to support and expand the toxicologic expertise within
poison control centers; and
``(7) to improve the capacity of poison control centers to
answer high volumes of calls and respond during times of
national crisis or other public health emergencies.

``(c) Certification.--Except as provided in subsection (d), the
Secretary may award a grant to a poison control center under subsection
(a) only if--
``(1) the center has been certified by a professional
organization in the field of poison control, and the Secretary
has approved the organization as having in effect standards for
certification that reasonably provide for the protection of the
public health with respect to poisoning; or
``(2) the center has been certified by a State government,
and the Secretary has approved the State government as having in
effect standards for certification that reasonably provide for
the protection of the public health with respect to poisoning.

``(d) Waiver of Certification Requirements.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary may grant a waiver of the
certification requirements of subsection (c) with respect to a
noncertified poison control center that applies for a grant
under this section if such center can reasonably demonstrate
that the center will obtain such a certification within a
reasonable period of time as determined appropriate by the
Secretary.
``(2) Renewal.--The Secretary may renew a waiver under
paragraph (1).
``(3) Limitation.--In no case may the sum of the number of
years for a waiver under paragraph (1) and a renewal under
paragraph (2) exceed 5 years. [NOTE: Effective date.] The
preceding sentence shall take effect as of the date of the
enactment of the Poison Center Support, Enhancement, and
Awareness Act of 2008.

``(e) Supplement Not Supplant.--Amounts made available to a poison
control center under this section shall be used to supplement and not
supplant other Federal, State or local funds provided for such center.
``(f) Maintenance of Effort.--A poison control center, in utilizing
the proceeds of a grant under this section, shall maintain the
expenditures of the center for activities of the center at a level that
is not less than the level of expenditures maintained by the center for
the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the grant is
received.
``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section, $27,500,000 for fiscal year
2009, and $28,600,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014. The
Secretary may utilize not to exceed 8 percent of the amount appropriated
under this preceding sentence in each fiscal year for coordination,
dissemination, technical assistance, program

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122 STAT. 4067

evaluation, data activities, and other program administration functions
that do not include grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements under
subsections (a) and (b), which are determined by the Secretary to be
appropriate for carrying out the program under this section.''.
(b) [NOTE: 42 USC 300d-73 note.] Effective Date.--The amendment
made by this section shall be effective as of the date of the enactment
of this Act and shall apply to grants made on or after January 1, 2009.

Approved October 8, 2008.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 2932 (H.R. 5669):
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HOUSE REPORTS: No. 110-681 accompanying H.R. 5669 (Comm. on Energy and
Commerce).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 154 (2008):
Sept. 23, considered and passed Senate.
Sept. 25, 26, considered and passed House.