This is in response to a Sun Journal article “House OKs naloxone bill” (April 12). To me, it is an outrage to read that Maine lawmakers voted 132-7 to facilitate illicit drug use and make sure naloxone is available to an overdose victim of any age which, by the way, he or she made a […]
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Posted inMaine
Bill that allows over-the-counter naloxone for people younger than 21 clears Maine Senate
AUGUSTA — A bill that would remove age restrictions on Mainers who want to buy the anti-overdose drug naloxone without a prescription is on its way to the desk of Gov. Paul LePage after the Republican-controlled Maine Senate unanimously endorsed the measure Friday. Sponsored by Speaker of the House Sara Gideon, D-Freeport, the bill is […]
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Surgeon general urges Americans to carry overdose antidote naloxone
ATLANTA (AP) — The nation’s chief doctor wants more Americans to start carrying the overdose antidote naloxone to help combat the nation’s opioid crisis and save lives. Speaking at the National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit in Atlanta on Thursday morning, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams issued his office’s first national public health […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Pharmacy board raises age for those allowed to buy lifesaving overdose antidote
AUGUSTA – Maine’s Board of Pharmacy on Thursday approved amended rules that would allow pharmacists to dispense the opiate overdose reversal drug naloxone without a prescription but only to individuals age 21 or older. In an apparent compromise struck with Gov. Paul LePage, the board voted early Thursday to increase the age from 18 to […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Candidates for governor disagree with Paul LePage’s delay of rules to expand access to overdose antidote
AUGUSTA — Several of Maine’s gubernatorial candidates, including three of the five Republicans, said Tuesday that they wouldn’t delay implementation of a new law that allows pharmacies to sell the overdose antidote naloxone over the counter. Gov. Paul LePage, serving his last year in office, has withheld his approval of rules for the naloxone program […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Paul LePage blocks overdose drug
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage continues to block new rules allowing Mainers to obtain an overdose reversal drug without a prescription, five months after regulators approved the policy to help reduce the state’s record number of opioid-related deaths. The Maine Board of Pharmacy voted unanimously Aug. 3 to approve rules allowing pharmacists to dispense the […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine panel to craft rules for pharmacies to dispense naloxone
PORTLAND (AP) — The Maine Board of Pharmacy meets this week to craft rules for pharmacies to begin dispensing the overdose antidote naloxone without a prescription. The original bill to make naloxone available over the counter passed more than a year ago but languished until the pharmacy board told lawmakers last year that the law […]
Posted inMaine
Rep. Frances Head sponsors bill to recoup naloxone costs
AUGUSTA — A bill introduced in the Legislature would make people who receive repeat doses of a life-saving opiate overdose antidote pay for it. Gov. Paul LePage’s bill, sponsored by Rep. Frances Head, R-Bethel, would make municipalities, counties and contracted first responders recoup the costs of administering naloxone or other opiate overdose antidotes from those […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Health groups want to increase access to naloxone
BANGOR (AP) — Four health care groups are working to increase access to the anti-opioid drug naloxone in the Bangor area. Naloxone is used to treat opioid overdoses. Eastern Maine Medical Center, St. Joseph Healthcare, Acadia Hospital and Penobscot Community Health Care are providing 500 survival kits to people who don’t have the ability to […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage allows drug overdose antidote bill to become law
AUGUSTA — Maine will expand access to a potentially life-saving drug antidote, after the bill went into law Tuesday without Gov. Paul LePage’s signature. The new law allows family members of addicts to be prescribed naloxone, which blocks the brain receptors that opiates latch onto and helps the body take in air. The law also lets […]