Oh, What A Year It’s Been!

A Year of Regulatory Success for Poison Centers

As an administrator of the Illinois Poison Center, this has been a frustrating year as the program continues to have severe financial challenges.  In 2011, the IPC suffered a $400,000 loss of funding this year on top of a $600,000 funding decrease in 2009-2010. To make up the loss, the IPC has closed 2 additional positions (on top of the 5 positions terminated/closed in 2009) and the remaining full time staff was reduced to 90% time.  Difficult times indeed.

On the other hand, as a medical toxicologist committed to decreasing the incidence of exposure to hazardous substances, this has been a fabulous year for poison centers across the nation.  In no previous time has the national poison center network had such a wide impact on the regulation of emerging toxic public health threats. Previous IPC blogs have shown the types of emerging public health threats noted by poison centers. Read more »

The Breakdown on K2

By Carol

If you’ve been watching the news or reading the paper lately, you may have heard about a legal marijuana substitute known by names such as K2, space, spice, magic potpourri, and the like.  The name K2 is presumed to be named after the real K2, a mountain in the Karakoram Range, that is the second highest peak on earth after Mt Everest.