Joe Lawlor

Staff Writer

Joe Lawlor writes about health and human services for the Press Herald. A 24-year newspaper veteran, Lawlor has worked in Ohio, Michigan and Virginia before relocating to Maine in 2013 to join the Press Herald. He is still considered “from away” but since then, he has learned what a “dooryard” is, eaten “whoopie pies” drank Moxie and boiled some “lobstahs.” The stories he enjoys most are when he learns something and meeting inspiring people. He lives in South Portland - aka “SoPo” - with his wife, Melanie, and two school-age children.

Latest

Published
June 9, 2015

Lyme treatment legislation garners bipartisan support

Since Maine doctors risk sanctions for prescribing antibiotics, many patients seek remedy out of state.
Published
June 8, 2015

Supreme Court kills governor’s appeal to allow MaineCare cuts

LePage spent over $100,000 to take his fight to the highest court, but 6,500 young adults will still keep their health coverage.
Published
June 7, 2015

For some, Maine CDC’s silence carries deadly risks

As the state chooses to keep secret the specifics about outbreaks at schools, people who need to know are left in the dark.
Published
June 5, 2015

Maine diverges from national guidelines by holding back outbreak information

Public health groups urge full disclosure about infections, but the state CDC’s policy is to avoid going public and naming schools.
Published
June 4, 2015

Locations of Maine disease outbreaks withheld, but why?

The Maine CDC, which used to name the sites, now says doing so could identify ill people. But some health advocates say the public needs to know when it’s at risk for exposure.
Published
June 2, 2015

Incidence of chicken pox soars in Maine schools

Outbreaks set a record and total cases double amid a recent rise in unvaccinated or under-immunized children.
Published
May 30, 2015

‘People will die’ without Mercy addiction-treatment center, former client says

The decision to close the Westbrook facility leaves the recovery community scrambling to fill the treatment gap.
Published
May 27, 2015

Lyme disease cases down so far, but ticks are set to gorge

Experts say ticks were just biding their time until the snow melted.
Published
May 27, 2015

Mercy Hospital to close substance abuse treatment center, cut 45 jobs

Losing the Westbrook center will reduce options for addiction treatment at a time when Maine overdose deaths are rising, and other hospitals could shut their units.
Published
May 25, 2015

Maine veterans of World War II pause to remember

‘I should have been killed so many times,’ says one Marine veteran who served in the Pacific.