A data set now required by law shows that only a common blood pressure drug topped Suboxone, revealing the depth of the state’s opioid crisis, although short-term scripts can skew the figures.
opioid epidemic
Posted inMaine
Report notes the drugs most prescribed in Maine
The second-most prescribed drug in Maine is suboxone, used to treat opioid addiction.
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Posted inNation & World
Government tells doctors to prescribe more overdose antidotes
More than 47,600 Americans died of opioid overdoses last year, a toll that has been rising for two decades.
Posted inMaine, News
USM’s Muskie School joins others in effort to bring medication-assisted opioid treatment to jails
The group is competing for a grant that would pay to go statewide with the program, which is considered the ‘gold standard’ to help those with substance use disorder.
Posted inMaine, Politics
Trump administration funding formula causes Maine to lose out on millions in federal opioid money
Because officials used older data, the state missed a key cutoff, and funding dropped precipitously.
Posted inMaine
Maine increases payments to providers treating opioid use disorder
Treatment experts applaud the move, but say it took the LePage administration too long to make significant investments in expanding treatment, given the severity of the opioid epidemic.
Posted inNation & World, News
Bloomberg Philanthropies will give $50 million to fight opioid epidemic
Bloomberg Philanthropies says over the next three years it’ll help up to 10 states address the causes of opioid addiction and strengthen prevention and treatment programs.
Posted inNation & World
Suicide, overdose rates driving U.S life expectancy down
Overall, there were more than 2.8 million U.S. deaths in 2017, or nearly 70,000 more than the previous year, according to the CDC.
Posted inCops & Courts, Health, Maine, Maine Crime, News
Lewiston police tell mobile needle exchange program to halt distribution
The program, which its founder calls the Church of Safe Injection, is violating a state law that prohibits people from distributing hypodermic needles, police say.
Posted inMaine
Activists hang banners calling for safe injection site in Maine’s largest city
Portland OPS is calling on city officials to open a facility where people can inject drugs under medical supervision, which they say reduces overdose deaths.