Mobile Courant

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has joined forces with Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and Mitt Romney (R-UT) to introduce the Poison Control Centers Reauthorization Act of 2024. This bipartisan legislation aims to reauthorize the Poison Control Centers (PCC) Network program through 2029. The House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved identical legislation in March.

The PCC Network program operates the Poison Control National Toll-Free hotline (1-800-222-1222) and 55 poison control centers across the country. These medical support facilities, staffed by toxicologists, nurses, and other professionals, operate around the clock every day of the week. The program is sustained by a blend of public and private funding. In 2022 alone, the PCC Network responded to over two million human exposures—an exposure case every 15 seconds on average.

“Poison Centers across the country play a critical role in keeping our families and kids safe,” said Senator Tuberville. “I’m particularly proud of Alabama’s Poison Center at Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham. In addition to providing life-saving treatments, these centers do a great job helping families in crisis, mitigating the burden on emergency rooms, and tracking valuable data about the flow of illicit drugs across the country.”

Richard Fogelson, CEO of America’s Poison Centers added: “For more than 70 years Poison Centers have saved countless American lives and continued to keep communities and families safe from poison-related emergencies. By providing expert, confidential, and free guidance through the Poison Help line (1-800-222-1222) Poison Centers also save health care dollars and prevent unnecessary hospital visits.”

The Poison Control Centers Reauthorization Act of 2024 reauthorizes not only the PCC Network program but also the Poison Control National Toll-Free phone number and national media campaign through 2029.

Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, and HELP Committees.