Marketing of opioids to doctors was associated with increased opioid prescribing and increased overdose deaths between 2013 and 2015, according to a new report posted in JAMA.
Why it matters: This study is the first to tie opioid marketing to opioid deaths. The results are damning to opioid manufacturers, which are being sued by cities and states plagued by the opioid epidemic.
The deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is likely to persist for another 6 months, according to Peter Salama, the World Health Organization's top expert on emergency preparedness and response.
Why it matters: The prediction, given in an interview with the University of Minnesota publication CIDRAP, would mean that the outbreak — should it be squelched by August — will have gone on for a full year. Health officials have never had to combat Ebola in such a complex environment, with security challenges slowing the disease response at times. In addition, the deadly virus has spread across a large expanse in eastern Congo, including urban and rural regions.
