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 ›

The trend mirrors a statewide decrease in overdose deaths, with improved access to Suboxone and naloxone. By: Joe Lawlor Admissions to emergency departments at Maine hospitals for drug overdoses have gradually declined since 2017, according to statistics released recently by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Suspected drug overdose admissions in the first six months of 2019 declined 11 percent over the same period in 2018, dropping from 2,047 last January through June ... Read More ›

Linda Coan O'Kresik | BDN Penobscot County Jail By: The Editorial Board.  Research has long shown that medication-assisted treatment can be the most effective means to deal with substance abuse disorder. Despite this, longstanding policies prohibited the use of this treatment in many of Maine’s correctional facilities, where a significant percentage of inmates are coping with addiction. This has made recovery more difficult, and even dangerous, for thousands of Maine people. It ... Read More ›

By: Jennifer Osborn ELLSWORTH — The mother of a homeless Ellsworth man is frustrated by the revolving door of Maine’s judicial system for people like her son who have substance abuse and mental health struggles. “He needs an involuntary commitment,” Leanne Lilly of North Conway, N.H., said of her son, Nicholas O. Stanley, 33. Lilly said her son is an alcoholic and has a traumatic brain injury he sustained in an all-terrain-vehicle accident as a teenager. Stanley has been arrested ... Read More ›

Poor broadband and out-of-step Medicare policies relegate Maine's use of telehealth to small niches when it should be in the mainstream. By: J. Craig Anderson, Portland Press Herald Northern Light Home Care and Hospice patient Raymond Dube meets with his cardiopulmonary nurse, Stacey Laqualia, at his home in Scarborough this month. Dube uses a tablet device to provide information about his health condition electronically to nurses at Northern Light in South Portland. Brianna Soukup/Staff ... Read More ›

Gabor Degre | BDN Penobscot County Sheriff Troy Morton By Callie Ferguson, BDN Staff  The state is working with the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office to develop a blueprint for establishing medication-assisted opioid treatment programs inside Maine county jails. Officials said they are collaborating on a set of guidelines that they plan to share in the fall with sheriffs, who independently oversee the state’s local lockups. The move signals the first unified effort to push for the ... Read More ›

By: Irwin Gratz The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration recently released data tracking opioid pill distribution from 2006 to 2012. It shows more opioid pills were handed out in Penobscot County than in any other county in New England. But by 2016, Maine had already moved to address issues of overprescribing. The state passed a law that set education and training standards for opioid prescribers. Smith was the VP of the Maine Medical Association before becoming the director of ... Read More ›

By: Jenae Addison The opioid epidemic in the United States has largely centered on white Americans, who account for roughly 80 percent of opioid overdose victims. But the national attention on white victims has pushed minorities to the sidelines, even as the number of opioid-related deaths among non-whites is on the rise. Non-whites make up 20 percent of deaths involving prescription and non-prescription opioids in the U.S. According to recent government figures, the number is ... Read More ›