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New Johns Hopkins building with healing environment can improve patients' state of mind

Most HGTV fans will agree that good design can improve one's state of mind. Designers at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore also believe it can help patients heal, which is why its new 1.6 million square-foot patient care building, scheduled to open in April 2012, features an elegant design with peace and quiet for patients as a priority.

15 Sep 2011

FDA creates Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation Network

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today a streamlined, integrated approach to effectively and rapidly respond to human and animal foodborne illness outbreaks: the FDA Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation (CORE) Network.

15 Sep 2011

Effect of campus smoking ban on college students' smoking behaviors, attitudes

Smoking bans have become more common on university campuses, but do they work? Do they help reduce smoking in this newly independent age group? According to an Indiana University study, they do.

15 Sep 2011

Suicidal teens are not likely to get mental healthcare they need

Suicidal teens are not likely to get the mental healthcare they need. This is according to a team of researchers at Seattle Children's Research Institute, the University of Washington (UW), and Group Health Research Institute.

15 Sep 2011

CHK Nutrition, NeuroResearch Clinics sign consent to halt sale of unapproved amino-acid products

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that two Minnesota companies have agreed to halt distribution of amino-acid products marketed to treat a number of diseases, until requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act are met.

15 Sep 2011

ITA president hosts International Small Bowel Transplant Symposium

Fifty-two year-old Paul McNeel, a fire chief from Leonardtown, Maryland was 37 in 1996 when a sudden health problem caused the loss of his small intestine. Almost all of it had to be surgically removed to save his life. For 13 years after that, McNeel continued to fight fires and stayed alive only because he fed himself a special liquid formula through a tube that went from a port in his chest directly to his heart and into his bloodstream.

15 Sep 2011

Obama's jobs bill pay-for: Taxing health benefits of the wealthy

The Obama administration request for a tax on top earners' health insurance benefits is stirring Democratic opposition.

15 Sep 2011

Medical providers should continue to encourage traditional smoking cessation methods

While electronic cigarettes may be a long-term alternative to the real thing for some smokers, Penn State College of Medicine researchers suggest medical providers should continue to encourage more traditional smoking cessation methods.

15 Sep 2011

E.U. announces launch of 126M Euro program to fight AIDS, TB in South Africa

European Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs announced during a visit to South Africa on Monday that the European Union (E.U.) "will contribute 126 million euros to South Africa's fight against AIDS and tuberculosis (TB)," money that "will be used to improve South Africa's primary health care system, increasing access for patients," Reuters reports.

15 Sep 2011

Navigating Cancer receives ONC-ATCB certification for Patient Engagement Portal

Navigating Cancer's Patient Engagement Portal, the industries only oncology specific solution that can integrate with any electronic health record (EHR) system, has received the federal government's "meaningful use" stamp of approval by earning (EHR) modular certification.

15 Sep 2011

HHS closes off public access to National Practitioner Data Bank

By law, the records are supposed to be confidential though available to researchers. However, in recent years, reporters across the country have managed to manipulate the data to reveal names of providers in stories. Patient advocacy groups are protesting the shutdown.

15 Sep 2011

Administration steps up focus on improper health care payments

The Obama administration is targeting programs that help the poor and unemployed as it seeks to recover billions of dollars in improper payments. The effort, part of a government-wide focus on wasteful spending led by Vice President Biden, will get a high-profile boost today when the entire Cabinet meets for the first time on that subject alone.

15 Sep 2011

Eli Lilly announces $30M, five-year commitment to fight NCDs in developing countries

U.S.-based pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly and Company on Tuesday announced it will spend $30 million over five years to fight the rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in developing nations, the Indianapolis Star reports.

15 Sep 2011

Roche, Uppsala BIO partner for new open innovation program

Swedish life science initiative Uppsala BIO has formed a strategic partnering agreement with Roche, the world leading pharmaceuticals and diagnostics company, for Uppsala BIO's open innovation program, BIO-X.

15 Sep 2011

WHO releases global status report on NCDs calling chronic diseases world's leading killer

The WHO "published a report Wednesday showing the prevalence of chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular illness around the world, along with countries' abilities to cope with the growing number of people affected by them," the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.

15 Sep 2011