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Abstract
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National Poison Prevention Week, which took place the week of March 17 this year, was a great time to reflect on the important work that pharmacists do at the nation's network of poison centers.
"Most of our staff are pharmacists," said James Leonard, director of clinical services for the Maryland Poison Center and associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy.
In 2022, the most recent year for which full data are available, the Maryland Poison Center managed more than 42,000 human exposure cases.
"A lot of what we do is provide the right-now treatment information... about this poisoning and what might go wrong, what can I do prevent it from getting worse, what can I do if it gets worse," Leonard said. "Poison centers are really the front end of that."
US poison centers responded to more than 2 million human exposure cases in 2022, according to America's Poison Centers, which manages the National Poison Data System and serves as the national membership organization for the centers. Analgesics accounted for the largest share of exposure cases, followed by household cleaning products, antidepressants, cosmetics and personal care products, and antihistamines.
Language: en |