Friday, April 1, 2011

Official: Federal budget cuts would gut Ohio poison control centers

Apr. 1, 2011, Newark Advocate

By Jessica Alaimo
CentralOhio.com

The Central Ohio Poison Control Center — frequently a lifeline for those poisoned by opiates and addictive prescription drugs — stands to lose almost one-third of its funding under the proposed federal budget.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the first version of the budget in February. Among the cuts were $27.3 million — 90 percent of funding — to poison control centers nationwide, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

As poison control awareness week concluded last week, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, called for a full restoration of funding to the centers. He has an unusual ally — Attorney General Mike DeWine, a former Republican senator defeated in 2006 by Brown.

DeWine authored the legislation establishing a national poison control hot line in 2002.

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