Public Health

Ted Teichert would like to drag his old boat to the curb, put a "Free" sign on it, and have someone take it away. What has stopped him is the certainty that his boat will meet the same fate as his old bed frame and his old sit-down mower — it will end up across the street in his neighbor's yard, among a number of portable sheds and other items covered with tarps. The Andover resident and former selectman believes his neighbor could be a compulsive hoarder, given the years-old and growing piles of items in his front yard, among which are things Teichert himself has put out...

Jamie Oliver , the British-born "Naked Chef," who set out to turn around the Huntington, W. Va., school cafeteria program in the ABC series "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution," and locked horns with the "lunch ladies," and who has done more to promote good children's nutrition than an army of nutritionists could, received the Healthy Cup Award from the Harvard School of Public Health Tuesday. The spirited chef, who turns 37 this weekend, was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire)

Get ready to see more advertisements in Massachusetts pharmacies for a wide variety of vaccines that consumers will now be able to receive in the stores. A new policy adopted by state health regulators grants pharmacists the authority to administer 10 adult vaccines in addition to the annual flu shot they already can give. The new vaccines being offered are for measles, mumps, and rubella; tetanus, diptheria, and whooping cough; shingles; pneumonia; hepatitis A; hepatitis B; polio; HPV; chickenpox; and meningitis.

Get ready to see more advertisements in Massachusetts pharmacies for a wide variety of vaccines that consumers will now be able to receive in the stores. A new policy adopted by state health regulators grants pharmacists the authority to administer 10 adult vaccines in addition to the annual flu shot they already can give. The new vaccines being offered are for measles, mumps, and rubella; tetanus, diptheria, and whooping cough; shingles; pneumonia; hepatitis A; hepatitis B; polio; HPV; chickenpox; and meningitis.

Days after state environmental officials found unacceptable noise levels from wind turbines in Falmouth, they are considering new regulations that would require the state to review potential noise issues before wind turbines are built in Massachusetts. The state might also conduct sound studies in other communities, such as Fairhaven and Kingston, where residents, as in Falmouth, have complained about newly installed turbines, officials said. A panel of independent scientists and doctors, convened by the state to look at the effects of wind turbines on the health of nearby residents, urged the...

As a child, Steve Thompson displayed outsized reactions to ordinary events and intense mood swings. By age 12, doctors diagnosed him with bipolar disorder. The idea that he had a chronic mental illness - one typically marked in adulthood by manic periods followed by depression - frightened him. "It's something you think you'll have your entire life," said Thompson, a 23-year-old student at Massasoit Community College in Brockton. But over the past year, with the help of his longtime psychiatrist, he has weaned himself off mood-altering medication.

State public health officials conclude in a long-awaited report that they are legally powerless to regulate private rooming houses for recovering substance abusers, but propose financial inducements for property managers in this fast-growing and controversial corner of the rental market to get training. In the report sent to legislators last week, the Department of Public Health calls for a carrot-and-stick approach: voluntary training for managers of these so-called sober homes, combined with legislation that would prohibit state agencies, including the probation...

Some people are absolutely sure gas drilling threatens public health, while others are absolutely sure it doesn't. Geisinger Health Systems is looking for more facts on the debate. "Our concern is getting reliable data so we know what to do for our patients," said David Carey, director of Geisinger's Weis Center for Research in Danville, Pa. Geisinger serves many patients who live in areas that have seen a recent boom in Marcellus Shale gas drilling. The gas-rich formation thousands of feet underground has generated jobs, billions of dollars and concerns about...

The University of Massachusetts again has the distinction of employing all but one of the state's 50 highest-paid public workers, 2011 state records show. The two top earners are Michael F. Collins, the University of Massachusetts Medical School chancellor, who made $761,314; and Terence R. Flotte, the medical school's dean, who was paid $701,141. Overall, 7,066 employees earned more than $100,000 last year. Three toll collectors earned more than $100,000, including one who earned $123,662.

Eastern equine encephalitis yesterday claimed the life of an 80-year-old Raynham civic leader, former businessman, and football referee, prompting frustration among his family and town officials over the state's reluctance to combat mosquitoes by aerially spraying insecticide. Martin Newfield died of the mosquito-borne virus known as EEE, nine days after first complaining of headaches and slight nausea, said his stepdaughter, Kara Fahey-Riel. The state Department of Public Health disclosed Friday that a Raynham man had been hospitalized and diagnosed with the...

Some people are absolutely sure gas drilling threatens public health, while others are absolutely sure it doesn't. Geisinger Health Systems is looking for more facts on the debate. "Our concern is getting reliable data so we know what to do for our patients," said David Carey, director of Geisinger's Weis Center for Research in Danville, Pa. Geisinger serves many patients who live in areas that have seen a recent boom in Marcellus Shale gas drilling. The gas-rich formation thousands of feet underground has generated jobs, billions of dollars and concerns about possible...

Ted Teichert would like to drag his old boat to the curb, put a "Free" sign on it, and have someone take it away. What has stopped him is the certainty that his boat will meet the same fate as his old bed frame and his old sit-down mower — it will end up across the street in his neighbor's yard, among a number of portable sheds and other items covered with tarps. The Andover resident and former selectman believes his neighbor could be a compulsive hoarder, given the years-old and growing piles of items in his front yard, among which are things...

CAMBRIDGE - The federal government is planning to release small amounts of dead bacteria in subway stations here and in Somerville beginning this summer to test sensors designed to detect biological agents unleashed in terrorist attacks. But some people voiced skepticism over the initiative during a public meeting Wednesday about the program. The US Department of Homeland Security will release a type of bacteria that, when alive, is commonly found in soil and food and cleaning products, inside the Davis, Harvard Square, and Porter Square...

By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent More than 60 Fulbright foreign students will be convening in Cambridge and Boston this week to discuss how to make advances in public health accessible technologies. The students from more than 40 countries will be touring three labs in Cambridge Wednesday, and will be meeting in Boston's Beacon Hill through the end of the week for a series of discussions. The Fulbright students will be meeting with United States experts from local higher education institutions and the nonprofit sectors to exchange resources and ideas...

SAUGUS - With sunny skies and balmy temperatures, Friday would have been a perfect day for nine holes at Cedar Glen Golf Course. But a freshly constructed dam - a 25-foot-wide mound of stripped branches and bark - had turned swaths of pristine greenway into swampland. The course was so waterlogged Thursday by beavers' handiwork that Burton Page, who runs the business, was forced to close down for the day, estimating $10,000 in lost revenue. "If we get an inch of rain," Page said, "we'll be out of business.

Facing a rising clamor against the state's controversial ban on bake sales in school, the Patrick administration Thursday directed public health officials to do an about-face and exclude classroom and fund-raising events from the new rules that were to take effect August 1. The state Department of Public Health announced Thursday afternoon that it will pass emergency amendments to its regulations last year that curtailed the sale of sweets in...

WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court yesterday struck down the Bush administration approach to limiting mercury emissions by power plants, ruling that the government failed to adequately consider the policy's effect on public health and the environment. More than a dozen states sued to block the regulation, saying it would allow dangerous levels of mercury into the environment. The toxic metal is known to contaminate seafood that can damage the developing brains of fetuses and young children.

Dr. Suzanne Salamon, active with the town's Medical Reserve Corps and a volunteer with the Council on Aging, will receive the annual Public Health Leadership Award during the Friends of Brookline Public Health meeting Feb. 1. The group will also present a community health award to Bountiful Brookline for creating and sustaining a local food system, and the Brookline Community Aging Network for its services promoting social, cultural, and civic involvement...

Gov. Deval Patrick said he's not interested in banning school bake sales despite regulations adopted by his Department of Public Health that would prohibit the selling of cupcakes and other treats at school, including fundraising events. Shortly after Patrick made his comments Thursday, public health officials backed down, saying they will pass emergency amendments to the regulations that will allow bake sales to continue at schools. The short-lived ban caused a stir at the Statehouse.

State public health officials conclude in a long-awaited report that they are legally powerless to regulate private rooming houses for recovering substance abusers, but propose financial inducements for property managers in this fast-growing and controversial corner of the rental market to get training. In the report sent to legislators last week, the Department of Public Health calls for a carrot-and-stick approach: voluntary training for managers of these so-called sober homes, combined with legislation that would prohibit state agencies, including the probation and...