National Advocacy

Dr. Jay Arena and Dr. Shirley Osterhout became actively involved in advocacy and educational activities to help prevent accidental poisonings. Dr. Osterhout worked closely with Dr. Arena during her time as a pediatric resident. In 1959, Dr. Arena left the Poison Control Center to be a national speaker and writer on poison control topics, while Dr. Osterhout became Clinical Director of the Poison Control Center.

Read Dr. Osterhout's full biography

Read Dr. Arena's full biography

After Dr. Arena's success in leading the push for drug companies to develop a childproof safety cap for medicine bottles, he worked on legal advocacy for proper packaging and dosage. In 1967, he was appointed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to serve on the Committee to Develop Standards for Safety Closures. He served as an expert witness in many poisoning cases and testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce to support passage of the Poison Prevention Packaging Act in 1970, that required a number of household substances to have child-resistant packaging.

Both Dr. Arena and Dr. Osterhout were featured as toxicology experts on television and radio shows and were nationally recognized as experts on poison control issues. In the 1970s, each of them served as a consumer representative for the Technical Advisory Committee on Poison Prevention Packaging for the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Between 1935 and 1979, Dr. Arena published approximately 300 articles and pamphlets on poisoning and a variety of pediatric subjects. He was also the author, editor, or co-editor of many books about poisoning and child safety.

See PubMed Article Collection for JM Arena

See Duke Resources Collection for Jay M. Arena

Your Child and Household Safety (A monograph by Jay M. Arena, M.D. Discusses continuing need to protect children from potantially harmful substances and circumstances.) $1.00 each. Special rate is available with name imprinted on orders of 1,000 or more upon request. Orders under $100.00 must be pre-paid. Published and distributed by Chemical Specialties Manufacturers Association, Inc., 1913 Eye Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006.

In addition to educational activities, talks, and consultant work, Dr. Osterhout also used her crafting skills to illustrate poison control and safety. One outreach effort that she was particularly proud of was the creation of a dollhouse with rooms to illustrate poisoning and safety hazards and inspire parents to implement prevention techniques. She designed the dollhouse with great care and concern to showcase common dangers to children in an everyday home. Dr. Osterhout traveled widely displaying the dollhouse at events like health fairs.

Pictured below are the dollhouse's bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living room.

“Many parents are more concerned that they know treatment so they never make any attempt to poison-proof the home or teach the children to be aware and to avoid danger. In many cases, no matter how well the parents are prepared to treat, it may be useless and too late! Prevention is far better at saving lives.”
-Dr. Osterhout in a 1967 letter to a Girl Scout Troop leader

The history of the Duke Poison Control Center is marked with innovation, compassion, and excellence. Not only has the Center left an impressive legacy with the North Carolina community, it has raised awareness of poison prevention and safety issues throughout the world.