Requires hospitals to report cases of poisoning to the regional poison control center

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Christopher Ryan says this is needed

Under current law, hospitals are required to report poisoning events happening within the hospital to the Department of Health. However, there is no statutory requirement for hospitals to report outside cases presented to them directly to the Department of Health and Poison Control Centers. This is a barrier which hampers poison control network's ability to accurately track trends and outbreaks. This lack of communication delays coordinated responses, obscures emerg- ing public health threats and unnecessarily put lives at risk. Poison Control Centers play a critical role in public health surveillance, emergency response, and the prevention of poisoning-related injuries and deaths. Timely reporting of poisoning cases allows these centers to track trends in toxic exposures and identify emerging threats, provide real-time guidance to healthcare providers on appropriate treatment and decontamination protocols, and coordinate with public health agencies to issue warnings or take preventive action when clusters of poisoning cases occur. Mandating that hospitals report all poisoning cases to DOH and Poison Control Centers will improve interagency coordination, accel- erate response times and enhance patient safety.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.