In poison emergencies, who'll answer your call? (CNN) {funding SLASHED}

[eppur_se_muova]

By William Hudson, CNN
March 22, 2011 7:12 a.m. EDT

(CNN) -- Congress might cut most of the federal funding for your local poison control center, which could mean a longer wait during your next poison-related emergency.

Measure H.R. 1 would cut $27.3 million, or about 93%, of federal funding for poison control centers across the United States. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives, but rejected by the Senate on March 9. Congressional leaders now need to negotiate a final spending measure, and that bill might include cuts to the poison control centers.
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Hospitals rely on poison control centers, too.
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According to a study cited by the Department of Health and Human Services, for every dollar spent on poison control centers, $7 in health care spending is saved. Other studies find the per dollar value of poison control centers to be far greater.
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The cuts in federal funding would eliminate all but one of the nation's 57 poison control centers, which rely heavily on federal funding.

Click here to see how many federal dollars your local poison control center receives.

"There's just no reason to maintain 57 separate call centers around the country when technology would enable us to get the job done with one," said a statement from Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Montana, chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Health and Human Services. "We can save millions simply by cutting out 56 duplicative locations and with record debt and deficits putting our future in jeopardy, it's worth looking under every rock for savings."
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/22/poison.control.risk.closure/index.html?hpt=Sbin#




I know others have already posted this, but it deserves more attention!

Volcano science ... tsunami warning systems ... poison control ... as long as it's something you don't really need until an emergency, don't waste money on it!

I'd like to see one of these smug bastards tossed out in the middle of the tundra with only the clothes on his back and left to find his way back home. Maybe he'd have a little more appreciation for just how much people actually rely on each other to share the burdens of a well-functioning society.

And if he didn't, just repeat the process a few times.

[FSogol]

1. Maybe the Family Bible contains some helpful accidental poisoning info?

Stupid Freepers.

[Brickbat]

2. Having called the Poison Center, I am so angry about this.

The people at the other end were polite, kind, understanding and extremely helpful. I called back twice with more questions and they were very patient. It was just the perfect example of a government program that works: fast, efficient, correct, trustworthy and supported by taxes.

[Jackpine Radical]

3. It's being contracted out to Monsanto.

[hunter]

4. Clearly we could outsource this work to India.

And pay for it with a 900 number.

:sarcasm:

What the hell is wrong with these so-called "representatives?" Redundancy in critical safety systems is generally considered a very good policy. What happens when you have a single call center and some guy digging a post hole for a "no parking" sign cuts the phone cable?

[dkofos]

5. It's a new business opportunity . 1 900 POISONS

[gratuitous]

6. Oh, you libruls!

Nobody gets poisoned anymore. There's all kinds of labels and warnings that manufacturers have put on their products, thanks to the benevolent invisible hand of the free market. So the only people who'd get poisoned anymore are the illiterate or the inattentive. And really, do we need "those" people around? Besides, if we don't slash spending, we face the horrific prospect of raising taxes on Paris Hilton and Charlie Sheen, and nothing is worse than that!

[Raksha]

8. Those labels helped a hell of lot when my daughter was two years old

and ate an entire bottle of baby aspirin I had left sitting on the counter. She was too young to read the labels. Mom wasn't but did a very stupid and careless--left them sitting and forgot about them. That kind of thing happens ALL the time!

P.S. I know you were being sarcastic.

[gratuitous]

10. Indeed I was

I hope your daughter came out of it okay, and yes, poisonings happen all the time to anyone. A poison hotline is one of those basic, gut-level, how-could-anyone-be-against-this service so despised by the Republican elites. It boggles the mind that they would look at the funding for a poison hotline and think "Now THERE's a budget item ripe for the slashing!" But even more boggling is the notion that they obviously have constituents who agree with them.

[Raksha]

13. This was in 1980, and she came out of it fine.

About the only thing the poison control center did in this case was tell us the situation *was* serious and that we should get her to a pediatrician right away. So my husband took her to the doctor, who dosed her with syrup of ipecac to make her throw up, and after that she was okay. I guess we could have taken her to the emergency room if we didn't have a pediatrician, but we had reasonably good health insurance at the time through my husband's work. As I said, this was in 1980.

Re "A poison hotline is one of those basic, gut-level, how-could-anyone-be-against-this service so despised by the Republican elites.It boggles the mind that they would look at the funding for a poison hotline and think "Now THERE's a budget item ripe for the slashing!"

Personally, I think it's a throwaway. What I mean by that is that the Repukes have no intention of cutting the funding to the poison control centers. They are putting it on the table and threatening to cut it in order to make themselves look "reasonable" and willing to compromise when they let the Democrats talk them out of it. That way they won't look like such ogres (they hope) when they cut other necessary funding like LIHEAP and Head Start.

I hope the Democrats stand firm and refuse to haggle with them over nickels and dimes when people's lives are at stake. Take ALL the Republican social service cuts off the table and raise taxes on the millionaires.

[LeftinOH]

7. More poinsoned people = more jobs for EMTs, hospital workers, funeral directors, etc..

I'm sure that's how the Righties could spin the "benefits" of cutting poison control center funding.

[pansypoo53219]

9. They are cutting the muscle of government now, for tax cuts.

next, the bone. republikkklan fetish for tax cuts is JUST AS UNSUSTAINABLE AS DEFICITS. zombie reagan must die. now.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

11. "There's just no reason to maintain 57 separate call centers ..." just one... in INDIA

I'm sure he has plans to outsource it to India if he gets his way.

I'm really surprised it hasn't been outsourced yet.

[ck4829]

12. 57 centers are necessary, this has to be one of the stupidest ideas ever

You get bitten by a rattlesnake out in the western US, you want a national call center in DC helping you? You need an emergency dialysis because of aspirin poisoning? Well, you need to wait while someone in DC is looking up a map.

People will die because of this.

[highplainsdem]

14. I think this defunding is actually intended to eliminate the poison centers' database. Link

to the topic I posted about it earlier

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x621904

which links to an article explaining they're also trying to defund the Consumer Product Safety Commission's public complaint database. Corporations that produce hazardous products aren't very fond of either database.

Just as polluting industries aren't fond of the EPA registry of polluters, which the GOP is also targeting:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x718414

[eppur_se_muova]

15. I saw that post, and I tend to share your suspicions.

Unlike NPR and Planned Parenthood, the Poison Control Center wouldn't seem to be an object of partisan rancor. In fact, it seems to be such a very peculiar target that one has to ask how it got singled out. The industrial connection seems to be a good explanation.

Remember that moment in one SOTU when Bu**sh** dropped in a line about asbestos lawsuits? I think most people listening wondered "where did THAT come from?". The SOTU traditionally addresses concerns that are important to most Americans, or at least that most Americans care about. This seemed too narrow an issue to drop into the SOTU, and it felt very out of place. Of course, the connection was to Cheney's co-conspirators at Halliburton, and it probably returned a political/financial favor to bring it up in the SOTU as if "frivolous" asbestos lawsuits were a threat to the country.