The state is on track for a 9.8% decline in 2024 from the previous year, after seeing a 16% decrease in 2023.
opioid epidemic
Posted inHealth, Maine, News
In rural Maine, efforts to provide drug treatment often met with resistance, despite high demand
Only about 2,400 people live in the Lincoln County town of Whitefield, where a 54-bed recovery residence recently opened in spite of heavy opposition.
advertisement
Posted inMaine, News
The Supreme Court rejected an opioid settlement that could have brought Maine $20 million. What now?
While the parties will now have to renegotiate a new settlement, Maine is expecting to receive about $235 million over the next 18 years from other opioid settlements.
Posted inBusiness, Nation & World, News
Supreme Court rejects nationwide opioid settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma
The settlement would have shielded Sackler family members who own the company from civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids but also would’ve provided billions of dollars to combat the epidemic.
Posted inHealth, Maine
Mobile medical team aims to reduce overdose deaths in Greater Portland
The van is operated by Greater Portland Health, which serves vulnerable communities in Portland, South Portland and Westbrook.
Posted inCops & Courts, Maine, News
Augusta to use opiate settlement funds to pay for mental health worker on police calls
The worker would be hired by the city in the hopes of connecting people with substance use disorder with help.
Posted inHealth, Maine, News
Fewer Maine babies are being born with substance exposure. No one’s sure why
Hospital data show the lowest figures in a decade, but officials say changes in reporting could be skewing the results.
Posted inHealth, Maine
Maine records one of nation’s biggest declines in overdose deaths
Maine, which reported a 16% drop, is one of four states that saw at least a 15% decline in fatal drug overdoses in 2023.
Posted inCops & Courts, Maine
Judge denies Kennebunk doctor’s request to throw out evidence from FBI search
Dr. Merideth Norris is fighting federal charges that she prescribed dangerously high amounts of opioids to her patients.
Posted inHealth, Maine, News
Madison residents, officials object to planned clinic offering methadone
Acadia Healthcare is under contract to buy 2 Old Point Ave., the former Taylor’s Drug Store, where it plans to open a behavioral health clinic offering medication-assisted treatment and other services.