The legislature of the state of Washington finds that:
(1) Accidental and purposeful ingestions of solid medication forms continue to be the most frequent cause of poisoning in our state;
(2) Modern treatment is dependent upon knowing the ingredients of the ingestant;
(3) The imprinting of identifying characteristics on all tablets, capsules, and caplets of prescription medication forms, both trade name products and generic products, has been extremely beneficial in our state and was accomplished at trivial cost to the manufacturers and consumers;
(4) Although over-the-counter medications usually constitute a lower order of risk to ingestees, treatment after overdose is equally dependent upon knowing the ingredients involved, but there is no coding index uniformly used by this class of medication;
(5) Approximately seventy percent of over-the-counter medications in solid form already have some type of an identifier imprinted on their surfaces;
(6) While particular efforts are being instituted to prevent recurrent tampering with over-the-counter medications, the added benefit of rapid and prompt identification of all possible contaminated products, including over-the-counter medications, would make for a significant improvement in planning for appropriate tracking and monitoring programs;
(7) At the same time, health care professionals serving the elderly find it especially advantageous to be able to identify and confirm the ingredients of their multiple medications, including over-the-counter products, as are often consumed by such patients;
(8) The legislature supports and encourages efforts that are being made to establish a national, legally enforceable system governing the imprinting of solid dosage form over-the-counter medications, which system is consistent with the requirements of this chapter.
[ 1989 c 247 § 1.]