AUGUSTA — In a bipartisan and unanimous decision, the Legislature’s budget-writing Appropriations Committee beat back a proposed $7.2 million raid on the state’s tobacco settlement funds, currently used for community smoking cessation and prevention programs. The committee instead took about $2.4 million from the fund to use on other parts of the $28 million spending […]
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Posted inLocal & State
Rotundo: LePage budget ‘shreds’ mental health safety net
AUGUSTA — The Democratic House chairwoman of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee says the governor’s budget would “shred” Maine’s safety net for people with mental illnesses. State Rep. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, said in a statement late Thursday that a proposal by Gov. Paul LePage’s administration that would reduce by 10 percent the Medicaid reimbursement rates for […]
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Doctor: Use common sense in shoveling; regular exercise helps
LEWISTON — Natalie McCarthy is giving up her shovel. The 84-year-old retired insurance worker likes to keep her walks and pathways clear of snow, and she recently did some shoveling. But later that night, her hands went numb. “It frightened me,” she said. She went to Central Maine Medical Center. “They rushed me in, did […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Researchers find new class of antibiotic in Maine dirt
With bacteria evolving to resist antibiotics faster than scientists can concoct new drugs, the fight against resistant infections in hospitals and food supplies is a tough one to win. But a newly discovered antibiotic with Maine roots may prove irresistible to bacteria. Every time an antibiotic is used, bacteria are getting to know it a […]
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N.Y. doctor back from Guinea has Ebola, 1st in city
NEW YORK (AP) — An emergency room doctor who recently returned to the city after treating Ebola patients in West Africa has tested positive for the virus, becoming the first case in the city and the fourth in the nation. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday urged residents not to be […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Maine CDC says the flu has arrived
The flu has officially arrived in Maine, state health officials announced Friday. The season’s first case was confirmed in an adult over age 60 from Lincoln County, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in a health alert. The patient, who was unvaccinated against the illness, tested positive for the influenza A virus […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Local hospitals prepare for Ebola
LEWISTON — Health and government officials say there’s no reason to panic now that the U.S. has seen its first Ebola death. But a little preparation couldn’t hurt. Locally, hospitals and others are bracing for Ebola while hoping to never see a case of it. In Lewiston, officials from Central Maine Medical Center released a […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Local & State, sj-web
Lewiston based health insurance cooperative to reach all of N.H.
PORTLAND (AP) — Maine Community Health Options is offering health insurance plans throughout New Hampshire in 2015, expanding ahead of schedule after being approved for a $67 million loan from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The insurance cooperative’s proposed plans have been approved by the New Hampshire Insurance Department and are under […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Study: Novel heart failure drug shows big promise
A new study reports one of the biggest potential advances against heart failure in more than a decade — a first-of-a-kind, experimental drug that lowered the chances of death or hospitalization by about 20 percent. Doctors say the Novartis drug — which doesn’t have a name yet — seems like one of those rare, breakthrough […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Voters approve nine articles in referendum
MECHANIC FALLS — Voters approved all nine of the articles set before them in Tuesday’s referendum on the town’s municipal budget for the fiscal year that began July 1. The nine articles passed by comfortable margins, ranging from 77-44 for articles funding legal services, a health officer and the pensions and insurances budget to 67-54 […]