About 10% of the 35,000 Mainers who have gotten health care coverage since the state expanded Medicaid are receiving treatment for opioid use. By: Joe Lawlor, Staff Writer About 10 percent of the 35,000 adults who have gained health care coverage since Maine expanded Medicaid in January are receiving treatment for opioid use disorder. Health care experts have predicted that Medicaid expansion will result in 70,000 additional Mainers enrolling in the program by the end of 2019. If current ... Read More ›

Elise Amendola | AP President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Manchester, New Hampshire. By: The Editorial Board Last week, President Donald Trump reiterated the flawed notion that mental illness is the root cause of gun violence in America. He then called for the reopening of institutions to house Americans with mental illness, suggesting they were too dangerous to be “on the streets.” This is a perilous scapegoating that falsely stigmatizes the ... Read More ›

Signing L.D. 775 would expand and restore much-needed support services for people with mental illness. By: Lori K. Garmlich - Special to the Press Herald Everyone deserves access to the health care they need to live safe and stable lives in their own communities. That includes mental health services. But here in Maine, we are falling short of providing that access. Our mental health care system is fractured, causing some of our most vulnerable citizens to slip through the cracks. It’s a ... Read More ›

Robert F. Bukaty | AP Governor Janet Mills speaks at a news conference in the State House, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019, in Augusta, Maine. By Robert W. Glover, Opinion guest column In the 1990s, Portugal faced a staggering opioid crisis. Roughly 1 in 10 individuals was using heroin; 1 percent of the population was addicted. Portugal’s prisons brimmed with those convicted of drug-related crime. High-risk behaviors produced public health crises, exploding HIV and hepatitis infection rates, ... Read More ›

By Deborah McDermott dmcdermott@seacoastonline.com    YORK, Maine -- In a new initiative to help people overcome opioid addiction, York Hospital is among the first hospitals in Maine to begin prescribing Suboxone -- a medical treatment for opioid withdrawal symptoms -- in its emergency department. “We knew we simply had to do more to combat the most significant public health crisis of our generation,” said Dr. Robert Hulefeld, York Hospital’s leader of emergent care. “We ... Read More ›

Survey to help Partners for Recovery program better understand beliefs, knowledge and attitudes about the disorder. MaineGeneral Health’s Partners for Recovery program is looking to reduce stigma and increase treatment for opiate addiction in Kennebec and Somerset counties. Stigma is a barrier to individuals with substance use disorder getting access to treatment and to staying in recovery. Program organizers ask the public to take a brief survey to help better understand beliefs, ... Read More ›

Community health centers, hospital networks and the University of Maine are recipients of money to support treatment programs and workforce development in the treatment sector. By: Joe Lawlor, Staff Writer Maine health agencies have secured $6 million in federal grants to battle the opioid crisis, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday. The $6 million will go to community health clinics, hospital systems and the University of Maine for treatment, prevention ... Read More ›

Naloxone doses are now widely available in Maine pharmacies, although a new federal database shows significant variations in sales by county. By: Joe Lawlor Staff Writer In Maine and across the United States, prescriptions for a life-saving opioid antidote have escalated since 2016, according to federal and state statistics. Meanwhile, after climbing for years, drug overdose deaths started declining for the first time in 2018. Experts say there’s a strong correlation between the two ... Read More ›

by Taylor Cairns PORTLAND (WGME) -- Maine's public health crisis of opioid use is well documented. In 2017, Maine saw more than 400 people die from drug-induced deaths. Some recovery service experts in Portland say they're hoping to change the way people see addiction by changing how people talk about it. "Language is really powerful," Kelli Fox said, an assistant clinical professor at the University of New England. "How we approach someone, and the kind of messages we send, can impact ... Read More ›