SEATTLE – State budget cuts could cause the death of the Washington Poison Center’s toll-free hotline.
The center is a private service that relies on state and federal funds. Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed cutting its funding from $4 million to $2 million a year.
The spokesperson for the Washington Poison Control says if the budget cuts are approved, they’ll likely have to end their hotline service at the end of the year.
Dr. Sherri Zorn says having the 24-hour hotline is a tremendous asset, not only to her patients, but to pediatricians and emergency room doctors across the state. Roughly 20 percent of the calls to the hotline come from health care professionals.
“They have access to more information than I possibly could, even if I spent three hours researching it on my computer. And fact is, if someone’s really been poisoned by something, you only have minutes to hours to make the correct diagnosis and to treat them,” said Zorn.
Washington Poison Control fields about 250 calls a day, the vast majority of which are children.
via Washington Poison Center hotline may go dead – Seattle- msnbc.com.
Washington State spends over $88 million per year enforcing its marijuana prohibition. Passing HB 1177, which would decriminalize less than 40 grams of marijuana possession, would save $7.5 million per year, according to the Washington State Institute for Public Policy.
You can bust mostly young people for a baggie of weed, or you can save children’s lives from poisoning. Your call, Washington.
My wife used that hotline when I overdosed on a script perscribed by my doctor. The pharmacy labled the pills incorrectly which led to my almost fatal overdoes. The Poison Control Center told my wife I could die and to get me to a hospital now. Now with the possible closing of that service there could very well be more cases like mine that won’t turn out as good.
if someone, say a cop, overdoses on weed brownies there is always 911.