Maine Laws

The state of Maine on Thursday appealed a federal court ruling blocking its new drug pricing law that would allow it to control the cost of prescription drugs for uninsured and underinsured residents. The first-in-the-nation law would require drug makers to negotiate rebates with the state similar to the deals they cut with the federal government. Companies that refuse could find their products excluded from a list of drugs prescribed for residents enrolled in federal health insurance plans.

The U.S. Supreme Court gave a boost Monday to the campaign to give uninsured Americans low-cost prescription drugs, reviving a novel Maine law that forces drug makers to discount their prices for all consumers if they want to sell to the huge Medicaid program that serves the poor. The 6-3 ruling was a defeat for the drug industry, which had won a lower court order that blocked the law, the first of its kind in the nation, from taking effect.

A federal judge struck down a Maine law that requires candidates to pledge support for congressional term limits or be branded on the ballot as a violator of "voter instructions." U.S. District Judge Morton Brody said the law was an attempt to coerce candidates by punishing opponents of term limits with a ballot label voters might find objectionable. The law, approved by voters in 1996, requires congressional, legislative and gubernatorial candidates to actively support an amendment to the U.S.

The state of Maine on Thursday appealed a federal court ruling blocking its new drug pricing law that would allow it to control the cost of prescription drugs for uninsured and underinsured residents. The first-in-the-nation law would require drug makers to negotiate rebates with the state similar to the deals they cut with the federal government. Companies that refuse could find their products excluded from a list of drugs prescribed for residents enrolled in federal health insurance plans.

Maine lawmakers Tuesday approved a bill reaffirming a woman's right to have an abortion and eliminating a 48-hour waiting period that had been required but never enforced. The measure, proposed by Gov. John R. McKernan Jr., was designed to stop anti-abortion activists who want to use a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision to reactivate the waiting period law and impose new restrictions.

Gov. Angus King said he will not veto a citizen-initiated ban on same-sex marriages, although he believes it is unneeded and unconstitutional. King said he will allow the measure, approved by the state Legislature, to become law without his signature. A veto would have required voters to decide the issue in a referendum in November. The ban was proposed by Concerned Maine Families, which collected more than 60,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot.

Valerie Emerson of Bangor, Maine, had watched her 3-year-old daughter endure an agonizing death while taking the anti-AIDS drug AZT. So when her son, Nikolas, started suffering during his AZT regimen, Emerson stopped all treatment. Then came the prospect of greatly improved results from newer, more aggressive three-drug AIDS "cocktails"--and a concerned doctor's plea that they be used. No way, Emerson declared: "I don't want my son to go through the same pain my daughter did.

Voters on Tuesday made Maine the first state to repeal its gay-rights law. With 595 of 663 precincts, or 90%, reporting, 133,303 voters, or 52%, favored repeal, while 124,015, or 48%, endorsed retaining the law. "We feel great," said Paul Volle of the Christian Coalition of Maine, a leader in the repeal effort. Gov. Angus King said: "I think it's unfortunate." Joe Cooper of Maine Won't Discriminate conceded defeat for supporters of the law late Tuesday.

A federal judge on Thursday blocked Maine's pioneering law aimed at cutting the cost of prescriptions with the threat of price controls, saying it would probably be tossed out as unconstitutional. The preliminary injunction granted by Judge D. Brock Hornby prevents the state from enforcing the law pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which represents about 100 drug companies.

Is federal law supreme throughout the nation, or does each state retain a sovereign right to go its own way? Many might assume that the Civil War answered that question when the North defeated the Southern states, which had maintained that they had a sovereign right to secede. But the Supreme Court took up that question Wednesday, and the justices did not think the answer was obvious.

A federal judge on Thursday blocked Maine's pioneering law aimed at cutting the cost of prescriptions with the threat of price controls, saying it would probably be tossed out as unconstitutional. The preliminary injunction granted by Judge D. Brock Hornby prevents the state from enforcing the law pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which represents about 100 drug companies.

Is federal law supreme throughout the nation, or does each state retain a sovereign right to go its own way? Many might assume that the Civil War answered that question when the North defeated the Southern states, which had maintained that they had a sovereign right to secede. But the Supreme Court took up that question Wednesday, and the justices did not think the answer was obvious.

Valerie Emerson of Bangor, Maine, had watched her 3-year-old daughter endure an agonizing death while taking the anti-AIDS drug AZT. So when her son, Nikolas, started suffering during his AZT regimen, Emerson stopped all treatment. Then came the prospect of greatly improved results from newer, more aggressive three-drug AIDS "cocktails"--and a concerned doctor's plea that they be used. No way, Emerson declared: "I don't want my son to go through the same pain my daughter did.

Voters on Tuesday made Maine the first state to repeal its gay-rights law. With 595 of 663 precincts, or 90%, reporting, 133,303 voters, or 52%, favored repeal, while 124,015, or 48%, endorsed retaining the law. "We feel great," said Paul Volle of the Christian Coalition of Maine, a leader in the repeal effort. Gov. Angus King said: "I think it's unfortunate." Joe Cooper of Maine Won't Discriminate conceded defeat for supporters of the law late Tuesday.

Maine lawmakers are wondering if the time has come to do away with the $100 fine for ridiculing someone who refuses to fight a duel. It is not that they want people to settle disputes of honor with guns; they just think it is among a series of unneeded statutes because of changing mores and technology. "We just have not had a lot of those [duels] lately and there isn't a lot of sense in having it on the books," said Rep.

A federal judge struck down a Maine law that requires candidates to pledge support for congressional term limits or be branded on the ballot as a violator of "voter instructions." U.S. District Judge Morton Brody said the law was an attempt to coerce candidates by punishing opponents of term limits with a ballot label voters might find objectionable. The law, approved by voters in 1996, requires congressional, legislative and gubernatorial candidates to actively support an amendment to the U.S.

The U.S. Supreme Court gave a boost Monday to the campaign to give uninsured Americans low-cost prescription drugs, reviving a novel Maine law that forces drug makers to discount their prices for all consumers if they want to sell to the huge Medicaid program that serves the poor. The 6-3 ruling was a defeat for the drug industry, which had won a lower court order that blocked the law, the first of its kind in the nation, from taking effect.

Maine lawmakers are wondering if the time has come to do away with the $100 fine for ridiculing someone who refuses to fight a duel. It is not that they want people to settle disputes of honor with guns; they just think it is among a series of unneeded statutes because of changing mores and technology. "We just have not had a lot of those [duels] lately and there isn't a lot of sense in having it on the books," said Rep.

Gov. Angus King said he will not veto a citizen-initiated ban on same-sex marriages, although he believes it is unneeded and unconstitutional. King said he will allow the measure, approved by the state Legislature, to become law without his signature. A veto would have required voters to decide the issue in a referendum in November. The ban was proposed by Concerned Maine Families, which collected more than 60,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot.

Maine lawmakers Tuesday approved a bill reaffirming a woman's right to have an abortion and eliminating a 48-hour waiting period that had been required but never enforced. The measure, proposed by Gov. John R. McKernan Jr., was designed to stop anti-abortion activists who want to use a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision to reactivate the waiting period law and impose new restrictions.