Category Archives: health policy

Did legalizing medical pot save some Mainers from prescription painkiller deaths?

Maine knows all too well the potential dangers of narcotic painkillers. Many a journey down the dark path of addiction begins with a prescription for Vicodin, oxycodone or similar medications, though heroin has taken center stage in Maine’s battle against drug abuse. But could another drug hold answers to preventing overdose deaths? In Maine and a […]

A Maine student’s homework, brought to you by Oreo

Ladies and gentlemen, a Maine student’s opinions about snow — brought to you by Oreo. You don’t often see a child’s schoolwork sponsored by a multinational cookie brand. But food marketers regularly advertise to students in Maine schools using less overt tactics, according to Tina Pettingill of the Maine Public Health Association. She used the Oreo worksheet, passed […]

As Maine weighs e-cigarette limits, ‘vaping’ among U.S. teens triples

Add this to the list of electronics consuming teenagers’ attention: cigarettes. Use of electronic cigarettes tripled among American middle and high school students over the course of just one year, from 2013 to 2014, according to new data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The statistics come as many states, including Maine, seek limits on the devices […]

How to choose a primary care doctor in Maine

Do you have a primary care doctor? The Affordable Care Act relies on the trusted family doctor to help transform the country’s health care system. Along with boosting Medicare and Medicaid payments to primary care providers and investing in their work force, health reform puts primary care doctors and nurses at the heart of efforts to improve care while lowering costs. […]

Addiction experts decry LePage plan to cut methadone funds

A group of local and national substance abuse experts spoke out Tuesday against Gov. Paul LePage’s plan to eliminate state funding for methadone treatment. LePage’s budget would transition opiate addicts seeking treatment from methadone clinics to Suboxone, a prescribed medication that patients must acquire from their doctors. Both Suboxone — a combination of two medications called buprenorphine […]