GSK biotech asthma drug wins UK approval after extra price cut

GlaxoSmithKline's new injectable asthma drug Nucala has been recommended for use in Britain's state-run health service in the most severe patients, after the drugmaker provided further analyses on its use and made an additional price cut.

China vows to cap water consumption, crack down on polluters

China will keep national annual water consumption below 670 billion cubic meters (bcm) through to 2020, the state planning agency said on Wednesday, part of efforts to ease chronic regional shortages by cutting waste and boosting efficiency. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said it would also aim to cap total water consumption at less than 700 bcm a year though to 2030. China has long been worried about a water supply bottleneck that could jeopardize future economic development, with per capita supplies at less than a third of the global average.

Japan orders major poultry cull after first bird flu outbreak in nearly two years

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan has started culling more than 300,000 chickens and ducks after the discovery of a highly contagious form of bird flu on farms in the north of the country, local officials said.

6 Take Homes from Liver Meeting

(MedPage Today) -- From HCV to PSC, AASLD sessions covered the waterfront

China plans skiing, skating drive for 2022 Winter Games

China wants to get 300 million citizens involved in winter sports by the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and plans to encourage them by building more than 500 ice skating rinks and 240 ski slopes over the next six years, the government said. The country's top economic planner said on Friday that the number and scale of China's current facilities did not match its winter sports development targets. "At the moment... there is a large gap with other developed countries with winter sports," the National Development and Reform Commission said in a document signed by other government bodies including the finance and sports ministries.

3 Australians critically ill after rare thunderstorm asthma

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - An official says three patients remain critically ill three days after a rare condition known as thunderstorm asthma killed four people and sent hundreds to hospitals in Australia's second-largest city.

Survey finds many experience new problems after LASIK

(Reuters Health) - Many people who undergo laser surgery to correct their vision experience new eye problems months after the procedure, according to a new study from the U.S. government.