►December 29, 2003 - Doctors: Learn Manners or Fail - Ivanhoe - "Up until 1964, medical students were actually tested on their bedside manner. Forty years later, that concept is back with an updated test. Starting with the class of 2005, all future doctors will be tested on their ability to communicate with a patient."

►December 27, 2003 - New weapon against asthma - Scientists have identified a new class of drug which could dramatically boost the weaponry against asthma - BBC

►December 29, 2003 - Magnesium Prevents Cerebral Palsy? - Ivanhoe

►December 29, 2003 - Kids' Acting Out May Signal Asthma Onset - Reuters via Yahoo!

►December 31, 2003 - Scripps' arrival opens animal research debate - The Jupiter Courier - "'With more reliable and more humane alternatives available today, (Scripps) has no business conducting gruesome and archaic animal tests,' ARFF President Nanci Alexander said in a news release. 'If (Scripps) is using animals in their research, we believe the public has the right to know exactly what and why.'"

►December 31, 2003 - Inside the mercurial Bush policy on mercury pollution - Nearly 2 years of work by EPA panel dumped - "For nearly 21 months, a government task force steadily moved toward recommending rules that within three years would force every coal-fired power plant in the country to reduce emissions of mercury, which can cause neurological and developmental damage to humans...But in April, the EPA abruptly dismantled the panel. John Paul, its co- chairman, said members were given no clue why their work was halted -- that is, until late last month, when the Bush administration revealed it was taking an entirely different approach, using a more flexible portion of the Clean Air Act."

►December 30, 2003 - Meningitis Drops in 2003, Despite Several Recent Cases - Boston Globe via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract) - "New Hampshire health officials have disclosed that the strain of meningitis that killed an 18-year-old woman in the Bennington area is not the same strain that infected two 15-year-old students in Keene, allaying fears that an outbreak of the dangerous illness is erupting. In addition, two other youths who contracted meningitis last week appear to have no relation to any of the other cases. In fact, the rate of meningitis infection has dropped in 2003 despite this recent jump in the disease's visibility."