The World Health Organization classified Ebola's spread from Democratic Republic of the Congo "very high," Saturday as two confirmed cased were discovered near Uganda's border, the Associated Press reports.
Why it matters: The outbreak in northeastern Congo is far more threatening than one earlier reported in August due to the largely dense urban population and rebel threat. As of Friday, 124 Ebola cases were confirmed with 71 deaths. Go deeper:WHO warns renewed violence in Congo endangers Ebola efforts
Walgreens Boots Alliance, former CEO Gregory Wasson and former CFO Wade Miquelon each settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which charged them with making misleading profit forecasts in 2013 and 2014.
The bottom line: This is another example of why financial projections should not be viewed as gospel.
The Congressional Budget Office score of the House opioids bill is in, and billions of dollars are shuffling around in the health care industry.
Winners: Inpatient behavioral hospitals, which would receive more than $1 billion in increased federal Medicaid payments from 2020–2023 for patients addicted to opioids.
Premiums for benchmark Affordable Care Act plans are projected to drop in 2019, the first time that has happened since the law has been implemented, HHS Secretary Alex Azar announced yesterday.
The big picture: Premiums are expected to drop 2% nationally, and the number of insurers participating on exchanges will increase for the first time since 2015, Azar added.
Every 15 minutes, a baby is born dependent on opioids. In Baltimore, doctors at Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital say babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome — a set of conditions caused by withdrawal from exposure to drugs — now account for 25% of the hospital’s admissions.
Why it matters: Nationally, the number of babies born with the syndrome has increased by over 400 percent since 2004. For Baltimore Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen, the community must first recognize addiction as a disease to address the larger trend of the opioid epidemic. But as drug-related deaths continue to increase, the future remains uncertain.
Editor's note: This post has been corrected to show that babies are born with opioid dependence, not addiction.
