Health Care


Zika virus is transmitted to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito, the mosquitoes that alos spread dengue and chikungunya viruses.

American College of Physicians Calls for Global Climate Action

"The American College of Physicians urges physicians to help combat climate change by advocating for effective climate change adaptation and mitigation policies, helping to advance a low-carbon health care sector, and by educating communities about potential health dangers posed by climate change," said ACP President Dr. Wayne J. Riley

The rule will require employers to notify OSHA of work-related fatalities within eight hours and work-related in-patient hospitalizations, amputations, or an employee

GAO Report Highlights Violence in Health Care Settings

"It is clear to me that OSHA should move forward and develop an enforceable violence prevention standard to help protect our nation's health care workers. Injuries requiring days away from work are financially and emotionally costly for both employers and workers, and these avoidable injuries put pressure on working families to do more with less," said U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., ranking member of the House Committee on Education & the Workforce and one of the members who requested the report.

EDCD Sets Zika Meeting in Paris Next Week

Meeting participants will review the Zika virus infection situation in the Americas, review surveillance and control measures, and discuss how to strengthen regional cooperation regarding the virus and its possible spread into the European Union.

Zika virus is transmitted to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito, the mosquitoes that alos spread dengue and chikungunya viruses.

Administration Designates Emergency Zika Funding

The Obama administration has identified $589 million in funding that will go toward Zika preparedness and response -- mosquito control, lab capacity, developing diagnostics and vaccines, supporting affected expectant mothers and babies, and tracking the spread and effects of Zika infections in humans in the United States, Puerto Rico, other U.S. territories, and abroad.

Annually in the United States, more than 480,000 people die from tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke, making it the leading cause of preventable death in the country, according to the American Lung Association.

Partnership Aims to Reduce Smoking Rates in Nine States

The American Lung Association announced it is partnering with the Anthem Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Anthem, Inc., to help smokers in nine states -- Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Nevada -- quit smoking.

Maryland's Largest Health Care Provider Recovering from Hack

As of Friday morning, "we are approaching 90 percent functionality of our systems," MedStar Health reported.

Class A kits are designed to offer greater access to the items needed to treat most common types of workplace injuries, while Class B kits feature a broader range and quantity of supplies to treat injuries in more complex or high-risk environments.

How ANSI is Leading the Way to Better First Aid in the Workplace

Recent changes to ANSI/ISEA Z308.1 are a holistic shift in our nation's approach to occupational injury preparedness.

When securing first aid instructors, it is highly recommended you engage certified instructors who have real-world response experience.

First Aid Readiness: Information, Preparation, Assessment, and Response

With such a broad description for OSHA first aid compliance, the responsibility of defining the various components of first aid response and preparedness lies solely on the employer.



Ebola No Longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern

WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan on March 29 terminated the temporary recommendations issued in response to the West Africa outbreaks.

New Johns Hopkins Cancer Research Center Announced

Immunotherapy has the potential to cure and end all forms of cancer and is the most rapidly advancing approach to cancer treatment and one of the most promising avenues of cancer research, according to JHU, which described it as seeking to redirect patients' immune systems to target, detect, and destroy cancer cells.

New York State's Mandatory Electronic Prescribing Takes Effect

The new requirement, considered a key component of New York's I-STOP initiative to reduce misuse of prescription medications in the state, "will improve patient safety, reduce the number of fraudulent or stolen prescriptions, and help combat prescription drug abuse across New York," Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said March 17 when he announced the effective date.

TB Fight Only Half-Won, UN Secretary-General Says

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon observed World Tuberculosis Day on March 24 by calling for increased and united global efforts to end the disease by 2030, adding that it will kill 1.5 million people this year alone.

Warnings Added to Immediate-Release Opioids

"We know that there is persistent abuse, addiction, overdose mortality, and risk of NOWS associated with IR opioid products," said Dr. Douglas Throckmorton, M.D., deputy center director of regulatory programs at FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "Today, we have taken an important next step in clarifying and making more prominent the known risks of IR opioid medications."

FDA stated that, in determining that these products are dangerous and present an unreasonable and substantial risk, it considered all available evidence, which included a thorough review of the available scientific literature and comments received on a February 2011 Federal Register notice.

FDA to Ban Most Powdered Medical Gloves

The ban would not apply to powdered radiographic protection gloves, because FDA is not aware of any powdered radiographic protection gloves that are currently on the market; in addition, non-powdered surgeon gloves and non-powdered patient examination gloves will not be included in the ban and will remain Class I medical devices.

OSHA believes the reported information helps it better target resources where they are needed and also engage employers in high-hazard industries to identify and eliminate hazards.

Year 1 of Recordkeeping Changes: More Than 10,000 Severe Injuries Reported

"In case after case, the prompt reporting of worker injuries has created opportunities for us to work with employers we wouldn't have had contact with otherwise," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels, author of OSHA's report.

Northwest Hospital & Medical Center has contacted about 1,340 of its patients who had surgery from Dec. 30, 2011, to March 9, 2012, in an operating room where the suspended surgican technician, identified as Rocky Allen, worked.

Surgical Tech Suspended As Patients Warned of Possible Infections

Northwest Hospital & Medical Center has contacted about 1,340 of its patients who had surgery from Dec. 30, 2011, to March 9, 2012, in an operating room where that individual, identified as Rocky Allen, worked.

CDC Releases Guideline for Opioid Prescribing

The guideline is intended for primary care providers who are treating adult patients for chronic pain -- and not for active cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care.

WHO Committee Recommends No Zika General Travel Restrictions

Surveillance for microcephaly and GBS should be standardized and enhanced, particularly in areas of known Zika virus transmission and areas at risk, the committee recommended, and work should begin on the development of a potential case definition for "congenital Zika infection."

CDC's Director Visiting Puerto Rico to Assess Zika Response

Public health experts fear the outbreak could result in hundreds of thousands of infected people in Puerto Rico during 2016 based on past experience with dengue and chikungunya, which are transmitted by the same mosquitoes.

OSHA Drafts Guidance for Determining Potential Health Hazards of Chemicals

The document is intended to help manufacturers, importers and other employers.

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