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BIDDEFORD, Maine

Bangor Daily News interviews Ed Bilsky on Maine's high rate of opiate prescriptions

Edward Bilsky, Ph.D., vice president for research and scholarship and co-director of the Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences, was interviewed at length for a July 3rd story in the Bangor Daily News about a new federal report that found Maine in 2012 had the highest rate in the nation for prescriptions of long-acting or extended-release opioid pain relievers.

In a dicussion of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, Bilsky told the Daily News that medical studies support the effectiveness of opioids for treating acute pain, such as after surgery or an injury, but that many health care providers jumped to the conclusion that the drugs work equally well for chronic pain over many months or years. That has led to an overreliance on opioids and an epidemic of misuse.

“There’s really no evidence in the medical literature to support the long-term efficacy, the effectiveness, of these drugs and their safety,” Bilsky said. Read the entire story.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.