While prevention methods, vaccination rates, experimental treatments and community outreach appear to have made progress in slowing the rate of deadly Ebola infections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, top public health officials warn that this improvement is endangered because two cities, Beni and Butembo, have become hotspots.
What's new: "Significant risks for further spread of the disease remain, " World Health Organization officials warned in a statement Thursday. WHO is concerned about lost access to people who are considered "contacts" of the infected, as well as other factors like some remaining pockets of resistance to treatment.
Deaths in America from drug overdoses have been growing exponentially for years — with an almost eerily consistent growth rate of about 9% per year for the past 38 years, despite the different types of drug epidemics and user demographics, scientists report in a new study published Thursday in Science.
The details: An investigation concluded that 17 illnesses and one death between July 5 and July 25 were linked to the raw ground beef that was made from the chuck portion of the carcass. According to the USDA, most people who are infected experience diarrhea and vomiting but recover within a week.
The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, the top trade group representing pharmacy benefit managers, has tapped medical device industry lobbyist JC Scott as its new CEO. He will take over for outgoing CEO Mark Merritt next month.
Why it matters: Scott, who has close ties to Republican leaders, will be leading PCMA at a time when the largest PBMs are fusing together with health insurers and are enduring heavy criticism for their role in the nation's problem of high drug prices.
A lot has changed in the past decade — a recession, a recovery, the passage and implementation of a landmark health care law. But some things you can always count on — like health care spending continuing to climb steadily higher every year.
The big picture: Per-person health care spending rose by 44%, or about 4% per year, from 2007 to 2016, according to new research published in Health Affairs.
