Addiction, recovery and the role of the state. Maine has one of the nation's highest rates of opiate addiction. The legislature is considering limiting MaineCare funds used to help addicts in recovery. What does this mean for patients, the state's budget and how best to address the epidemic?
Host Keith Shortall spoke with:
Dr. Mark Publicker, MD, FASAM, the Medical Director for the Mercy Recovery Center. Dr. Publicker was the Regional Chief of Addiction Medicine for Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic Region, covering the Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area. At Kaiser, he directed a multi-disciplinary service with an inpatient unit, partial hospital, intensive outpatient programs and methadone maintenance therapy. During his career, he has held a number of administrative positions, including medical director of a health center with 80 physicians, 800 staff and over 40,000 patients. He has a passion for teaching medical students, residents, physicians and other medical professionals in motivational interviewing, chronic pain management and addiction medicine.
Dr. Joseph Py - corporate medical director for the Discovery House methadone clinics in Maine and other states.
and Rep. Susan Morissette who serves on the legislature's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee and is a member of the Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force.
