Tuberville poison control bill passes the House, heads to President Biden's desk

September 17, 2024 WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville's (R-Alabama) bipartisan Poison Control Centers Reauthorization Act of 2024 passed the U.S. House of Representatives without objection.

Sen. Tuberville's legislation reauthorizes the Poison Control Centers (PCC) Network program through 2029, providing lifesaving care to millions of families.

The legislation is expected to be signed by President Joseph R. Biden (D) next week.

"Poison Centers across the country play a critical role in keeping our families and kids safe," said Senator Tuberville in a statement. "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. I'm proud to see this bipartisan legislation pass both chambers of Congress and look forward to President Biden signing this bill into law"

U.S. Senator Tuberville was joined by U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-Washington), Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico), and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) in introducing the legislation in the Senate.

In May, Senator Tuberville introduced the Poison Control Centers Reauthorization Act of 2024 with his Senate colleagues. Following the introduction of the bill, Senator Tuberville and his colleagues passed the legislation unanimously out of the Senate HELP committee, 21 to 0. After passing out of HELP committee, the full Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent in July.

The PCC Network program runs the Poison Control National Toll-Free hotline (1-800-222-1222) and 55 poison control centers nationwide-medical support facilities staffed by toxicologists, nurses, and other professionals operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The program is supported by a combination of public and private funding. In 2022, the PCC Network responded to more than 2 million human exposures-receiving an exposure case every 15 seconds on average. Alabama's Poison Information Center is housed at Children's of Alabama in Birmingham.