A Shanghai health official has been arrested on suspicion of crime, local authorities said, with state media linking his downfall to the bribery scandal surrounding British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline.

Huang Fengping, who was suspended earlier this month as deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission for Health and Family Planning, was arrested Wednesday for allegedly committing a crime, the Shanghai Municipal People's Prosecution Service said in a one-sentence statement.

Spain will ban electronic cigarettes from public places like hospitals and schools because of their possible health risks, the government said Wednesday.

"The goal is to protect people's health and avoid possible adverse effects," Health Minister Ana Mato said in a statement.

Capitalizing on the success of urgent "Amber Alert" bulletins that help authorities find missing children, U.S. lawmakers introduced a similar program for the elderly Tuesday that they hope to implement across America.

If passed by Congress, the legislation sponsored by six U.S. Senate Democrats would create a "Silver Alert" aimed at helping locate missing senior citizens suffering from conditions such as dementia.

Neuroscientists on Tuesday said they had used an inkjet printer to print cells from the eye, making a practical step in the quest to grow replenishment tissue for damaged or diseased organs.

Researchers at England's University of Cambridge extracted two types of cells from rat retinas and sent them through a printer nozzle to see if they survived.

Fewer teens are trying fake marijuana known by such names as K2 and Spice, apparently getting the message that these cheap new drugs are highly dangerous, according to the government's annual survey on drug use.

Synthetic marijuana is thought to have appeared in the U.S. in 2009, and soon after came a spike in emergency room visits, even deaths, as the drug caught on among young people.

A 73-year-old Chinese woman has died of a type of bird flu new in humans, health officials say, but experts believe the risk of it spreading between people is low.

The woman died of the H10N8 strain in the southeastern city of Nanchang on December 6, the Jiangxi provincial health department said in a statement on its website.

Doctors in China kept a man's severed hand alive for a month by attaching it to his leg, before restoring it to its usual position, a report said Tuesday.

The 25-year-old, identified by his nickname Xiao Wei, had his right hand sawn off by a drilling machine at work last month in Changde, in the central province of Hunan, the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald said.

After more than 40 years of study, the U.S. government said Monday it has no evidence that the anti-bacterial chemicals used in countless common soaps and washes help prevent the spread of germs, and it is reviewing research suggesting they may pose health risks.

Regulators at the Food and Drug Administration said they are revisiting the safety of chemicals such as triclosan in light of recent studies that suggest the substances can interfere with hormone levels and spur the growth of drug-resistant bacteria.

There's more disappointing news about multivitamins: Two major studies found popping the pills did not protect aging men's brains or help heart attack survivors.

Millions of people spend billions of dollars on vitamin combinations, presumably to boost their health and fill gaps in their diets. But while people who don't eat enough of certain nutrients may be urged to get them in pill form, the government doesn't recommend routine vitamin supplementation as a way to prevent chronic diseases.

A panel set up at the request of President Francois Hollande on Monday recommended legalizing assisted suicide in France, where the debate on euthanasia has been revived after several tragic end-of-life stories.

The suicides of two elderly couples in November and the heart wrenching testimony of a politician who watched her terminally-ill mother die after taking pills have shocked and moved France, where euthanasia is illegal.