A late-night impasse over adjournment has members of the 128th Maine Legislature vehemently blaming political opponents, with time running out and the fate of unfinished legislation unclear.
opioid epidemic
Posted inLocal & State, News
Number of opioids prescribed in Maine in 2017 fell 13 percent, the sixth-steepest drop in U.S.
The drop since 2016 reflects the first full year of data under the law limiting opioid prescribing and exceeds the national average decline of 8.9 percent.
advertisement
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
Bill that allows over-the-counter naloxone for people younger than 21 clears Maine Senate
A rule that would allow pharmacists to dispense the antidote only to those over the age of 21 is still pending before the Board of Pharmacy.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
Maine House overwhelmingly approves lifting age requirement for opioid antidote
Rules that would allow pharmacists to dispense naloxone without a prescription have been stalled for well over a year.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Biddeford Rep. Grohman: Send uniters, not partisan fighters, to Congress to change nation’s course
As a farm family member, businessman and volunteer, I’ve learned that great things can happen when people join together for a common purpose.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Waldoboro woman sues VA over death of father, 90, blaming change in meds
She says he died two weeks after a doctor took him off a low-dose opioid painkiller he had taken for 40 years.
Posted inMaine Voices, Op-Eds, Opinion
Maine Voices: Fentanyl now public enemy No. 1 in America’s war on drugs
Fentanyl caused 58 percent of Maine drug fatalities in 2017, while heroin caused 21 percent.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Cynthia Dill: LePage’s ideas about naloxone, MaineCare are dumb and dumber
We are losing more than dollars because of the governor’s obstructionism.
Posted inEditorials, Opinion
Our View: Gov. LePage to blame for Maine’s protracted fight over overdose antidote
His resistance to making naloxone more widely available has kept lawmakers from addressing the larger issues in the opioid crisis.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Pharmacy board urged to make overdose antidote available to Mainers younger than 21
Treatment advocates reject an age requirement backed by the LePage administration on the same day the U.S. surgeon general calls for increasing Americans’ access to naloxone.