POISON CENTER SAGA: January-March 2009
On Jan. 16, 2009, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee of the Arizona Legislature issued a proposal to stop funding the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, effectively closing the center as early as February 2009. The proposal instead called for allocating all state dollars for poison control to the poison center that is part of Banner Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, a private hospital. To learn more about the proposal to close the center and what people said about it, view Center in Danger
On Jan. 31, Gov. Jan Brewer signed a budget bill from the Legislature that no longer called for elimination of the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, but called for large cuts in 2009 funding to the two centers and the issuance on May 1 of a request for proposals to operate one statewide center in 2010.
In February, the Arizona Department of Health Services notified the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center that its appropriations had been reduced by $249,500. This amount represents 20 percent of total state funding allocated to APDIC for Fiscal Year 2009, and about 60 percent of the funds remaining for the budget period that ends June 30.
Funding from the state health department that supports the infrastructure of the statewide scorpion antivenom project, coordinated through VIPER Institute, a poison center partner, was reduced by 20 percent as well. The $30,000 cut to the antivenom project also represents about 60 percent of its remaining FY 2009 funds.
The Pregnancy Riskline program, a special genetic counseling service for pregnant and nursing women exposed to toxic substances, took the hardest hit: its cut of $20,000 left the program without any state funding for the rest of the year.
“Obviously, cuts of this magnitude are hard to absorb,” Jude McNally, managing director of the poison center, said Feb. 26. “We are scrambling to find other sources of funding to keep us going through June. The college has committed to help us keep people on the job and answering the phones, so that our service to Arizona is not interrupted while we deal with this crisis ”
In March, with the help of the college and other organizations, bridge funding was provided to keep programs going through the fiscal year. However, the poison center is still at high risk for Fiscal Year 2010. Lawmakers have stated their intent to have poison control services in the state, but there is no commitment in the Legislature to maintain a center at The University of Arizona. Dr. Leslie Boyer, the center's medical director, said on March 27, "The center has never been under greater threat. Now, more than ever, the Legislature needs to know how important the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center is to the educational and service missions of The University of Arizona and the college. We are a training center for future pharmacists and physicians, for medical residents, and for military doctors. And we are a primary source of expertise to practicing pharmacists statewide."
