Jessica Pollard, who has been teaching at the Yale University School of Medicine, returns to her native state to lead an office that plays a key role in responding to the opioid crisis.
opioid epidemic
Posted inNation / World
How fentanyl flowed through the U.S. Postal Service and across the southern border
Vulnerabilities that allowed vast quantities of the drug into the United States went unaddressed for years as tens of thousands of Americans died from overdoses.
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Posted inNation / World, News
Fifteen percent of pharmacies handled nearly half of all opioid pills nationwide
By the time Clinton County coroner Steve Talbott arrived at the scene of an overdose in southern Kentucky, the bottles of prescription pain pills usually had vanished. Friends and relatives of the dead rarely had answers to Talbott’s questions: What kind of pills did they take and where did they come from? A toxicology report […]
Posted inMaine, News
As use of opioid antidote increases, drug overdose deaths decline
Naloxone doses are now widely available in Maine pharmacies, although a new federal database shows significant variations in sales by county.
Posted inMaine, News
Emergency hospital admissions for drug overdoses have declined in Maine since 2017
The trend mirrors a statewide decrease in overdose deaths, with improved access to Suboxone and naloxone.
Posted inMaine, News
Maine drug overdose deaths continued decline in first quarter, falling 14%
The state had 74 fatal drug overdoses through March, down from 86 for the same period last year. Most of the deaths were caused by fentanyl, and cocaine-related overdoses are on the rise.
Posted inMaine, News
Maine summit on opioid crisis to offer a range of sessions
The summit is scheduled for Monday in Augusta.
Posted inMaine, News
Effort to increase Medicaid patients’ access to opioid treatment is threatened
A provision in federal law designed to control costs – called the upper payment limit – is creating an obstacle.
Posted inBusiness, Maine, News
Maine becomes latest state to sue pharmaceutical company over opioid crisis
Attorney General Aaron Frey files a lawsuit that accuses Purdue Pharma of deceptive business practices in marketing the drugs to the state’s health care providers.
Posted inNews
Health care has dominated legislative session
Democrats control the House and Senate and have a governor who’s on their side. Their priority has been health care, both in policy changes and spending priorities