“‘Silent Epidemic’: Maine Lawmakers Shrug Off 18% Increase in Excess Deaths”

Rep. Heidi Sampson, a Republican legislator from Maine, said the state’s Democratic lawmakers “shrugged their shoulders” when she proposed investigating the increase in sudden deaths since 2020 among young and middle-aged adults in Maine with no known previous illness.

Rep. Heidi Sampson, a Republican legislator from Maine, in recent months made headlines for her actions on the floor of the Maine House of Representatives, where she presented alarming data on Maine’s “silent epidemic” of excess deaths.

She also raised critical questions about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines and warned against the growing influence of international organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO).

Excess death data ‘literally earthshaking’

As the COVID-19 pandemic progressed, Sampson grew increasingly concerned about the data showing a rise in excess deaths among young and middle-aged adults in Maine.

In March, she decided to take action. Using 2015-2022 Maine all-cause mortality data analyzed by a statistician, she told her colleagues that Maine has since 2020 seen close to an 18% increase in excess deaths among 25- to 64-year-olds.

The spike in excess deaths for 2020 was 6.3% compared to the background rate of about 1.5% from 2015-2020.

Sampson cited the CEO of the One America insurance company, saying he “publicly disclosed that during the third and fourth quarter of 2021, death in people of working age 18 to 64 was 40% higher than it was before the pandemic.”

“This data was compiled by actuaries who are the mathematical experts insurance companies rely upon,” she said. “A 40% increase in deaths is literally earthshaking. Even a 10% increase in excess deaths would have been a 1-in-200-year event.”

She went on to describe the increasingly common phenomenon of “sudden deaths,” citing examples such as death by heart attack, stroke, meningitis, brain aneurysm, pulmonary embolism, anaphylaxis and asthma.

She encouraged lawmakers to do their own searches. “You will find hundreds, even thousands, of examples. A few years ago, this was unheard of.”

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