Health Highlights: July 15, 2019

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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Company Reaches $1.4 Billion Settlement in Opioid Treatment Investigation

A drug company has reached a $1.4 billion settlement with the U.S. government over an investigation into the company’s marketing and sales of a prescription drug used to treat opioid addiction.

From 2010 through 2014, Reckitt Benckiser Group or its subsidiaries mishandled the marketing or improperly controlled the pricing of the drug Suboxone, government officials alleged, CNN reported.

“Drug manufacturers marketing products to help opioid addicts are expected to do so honestly and responsibly,” Jody Hunt, assistant attorney general, Civil Division, U.S. Justice Department, said in a department news release.

This is the largest settlement in U.S. history in a case involving an opioid medication, CNN reported.

In a statement, Reckitt Benckiser said it has “has acted lawfully at all times and expressly denies all allegations that it engaged in any wrongful conduct.”

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First Ebola Case Confirmed in City of Goma: DR Congo Officials

The first case of Ebola in the city of Goma has been confirmed, Democratic Republic of Congo officials said Sunday.

Goma is a city of more than 1 million people located on the border with Rwanda. The case raises fears that the Ebola outbreak in Congo could now make its way into Rwanda, which has remained free of the deadly virus, CNN reported.

Congo official said an Ebola-infected person arrived in Goma by bus from the northeastern city of Butembo, where Ebola first struck last September. The bus driver and the other 18 passengers were located and taken to a treatment center, and will be vaccinated on Monday.

Since the outbreak began in the central African nation last August, 2,489 cases have been reported and there have been 1,665 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health, CNN reported.

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