Maine PFAS Fund redirects $200,000 to publish and share cholestyramine treatment protocols

The Maine PFAS advisory committee agreed to redirect $200,000 that had been earmarked to design a clinical trial toward supporting clinicians who are using cholestyramine to reduce PFAS levels in patients’ blood, members said at a department meeting.

The transfer is meant to support two Maine clinicians who have developed institutional protocols — a family medicine physician at Reddington Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan and a pediatrician at Maine Medical Center in Portland — so they can refine those protocols and publish case series documenting outcomes, Maine CDC and DACF staff said. Isaac Benowitz, chief medical officer and state epidemiologist at Maine CDC, described the plan during the meeting: "So we're proposing to do to use the allocated $200,000 to do 2 things. The first is to provide support to the 2 clinicians that I mentioned earlier so they can improve their treatment protocols and make those protocols and indirectly make cholestyramine more available to all Maine clinicians for all patients that have high levels of PFAS in blood."

Why it matters: The PFAS Fund's implementation plan had allowed for funding a clinical trial only because, at the time, there were no approved treatments to lower PFAS body burden. New studies published since 2023, plus hospital protocols now approved in Maine, show that cholestyramine — a cholesterol‑lowering medication — can substantially reduce several PFAS compounds in blood. Committee members and staff said shifting the $200,000 would accelerate clinician awareness and patient access statewide rather than spend the money on designing a new trial.

Details of the change: Beth (PFAS Fund staff) explained the administrative mechanics behind the request and where the money currently sits: "DACF currently has a memorandum of understanding with CDC to do the work... part of that MOU is 200,000 to initiate a clinical [trial]. And what we're asking for is the advisory committee's input on reallocating that $200,000 towards the work that Isaac just described." Committee members voiced support during the discussion, including Becca Bolas (executive director, Maine Public Health Association), Diane Roland (Dean, College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences; director, Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station), Lucia Brown (deputy state executive director, Farm Service Agency in Maine), Adrienne Lee (New Beat Farm, agriculture representative), and Nancy McBrady (Deputy Commissioner, speaking on behalf of Commissioner Amanda Beal).

Planned next steps: Staff said the mechanism will likely be a sole‑source contract from Maine CDC to the clinicians to cover work refining protocols and preparing case series for publication. Department staff also noted that a larger pool of funding — roughly $500,000 previously set aside to support an actual clinical trial — remains available should new evidence prompt a different approach. As Beth summarized near the meeting's close: "The fund will work with CDC to redirect the funds towards the publication of these protocols and case series and help to further educate the Maine medical community and even beyond the borders of Maine about this treatment."

What the decision does not change: DACF emphasized medical privacy protections for individuals: blood test results will be returned to ordering clinicians, and the department will not receive individuals' lab results. Maine CDC is proceeding with rulemaking to make elevated PFAS blood results a reportable condition to permit public‑health follow up by clinicians and toxicologists.

Votes and formal action: The committee did not record a formal roll‑call vote in the transcript; staff recorded consensus support and the committee agreed to proceed with the reallocation and contract planning. The department will draft and execute the contracting steps described above.