AUGUSTA (AP) – Gov. John Baldacci signed a bill Wednesday that will require drug companies doing business in Maine to release the results of all clinical trials dating back to the fall of 2002.

Sponsors, who touted the measure as the first of its kind in the nation, said it will force pharmaceutical companies to make public the results of clinical trials on prescription drugs, and to post them on a Web site approved by the state Department of Health and Human Services.

The law, which will take effect this fall, covers clinical drug trials back to October 2002.

Supporters said the measure will help consumers as well as prescribers to weigh the real benefits of heavily marketed new drugs.

There have been demands for more public disclosure of industry-sponsored research following recent controversies involving companies accused of suppressing unfavorable results. Drug manufacturers GlaxoSmithKline and Merck & Co. were accused of hiding information about the anti-depressant Paxil and the painkiller Vioxx, respectively.

Governor gets bill on lead poisoning

AUGUSTA (AP) – Gov. John Baldacci is expected to sign a bill that will assess new fees on paint to pay for programs to prevent lead poisoning in children.

The bill calls for fees on paint manufacturers, to be collected at the wholesale level, equivalent to 25 cents per gallon. Money from the fees will go to educational efforts and pay for lead testing kits for Maine families.

“Maine families are particularly hard-hit by lead exposure because our housing stock is so old,” said Assistant House Majority Leader Robert Duplessie, D-Westbrook.

More than half of the children in Maine who suffer from extremely high levels of lead in their bloodstreams live in homes that were recently renovated by parents who did not know enough about the dangers, Duplessie said.

An estimated 20,000 Maine children are exposed to lead each year at levels above those known to cause brain damage, learning disabilities, hyperactivity and anti-social behavior. Lead-based paint poses a particular risk to children under 6 years old.

Ex-official tapped

for environment board

AUGUSTA (AP) – Matthew Scott, an aquatic biologist who has a varied background in state government, has been appointed by the governor as chairman of the state Board of Environmental Protection.

Scott, who lives in the Belgrade area, served as deputy commissioner of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife from 1995 to 1997. He currently serves as a consultant for non-profits in Maine.

A Houlton native and a graduate of University of Maine, Scott has also served as executive director of the Maine Low-Level Radioactive Waste Authority and chief biologist for the Department of Environmental Protection. He’s served on the 10-member Board of Environmental Protection since 2003.

Board members must be confirmed by the Legislature, but legislative confirmation is not required for the chairmanship, Gov. John Baldacci’s office said.

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