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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

SARS Patient Contacts Free of Disease

Fears that a SARS outbreak may return were quelled somewhat late Friday when Taiwanese authorities said most of the 34 people who came in close contact with an infected patient were free of the disease.

Agence France-Presse reports that 20 of the contacts were removed from a watch list at midnight Friday after having gone 10 days without showing symptoms of SARS. Another 12 people are expected to be removed from the list on Saturday, health authorities said.

The patient's wife and father are expected to remain on the list until Dec. 24, according to the AFP account.

The patient, a 44-year-old colonel who is a researcher, came down with SARS earlier this month after a lab mishap. Officials said he should have quarantined himself, but instead traveled by plane to attend a conference in Singapore, thus exposing others.

He is recovering but still has symptoms of pneumonia, according to AFP.

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Doctors Attack Abortion-Cancer Link

The Minnesota Medical Association has sent a letter to Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty urging him to remove language from a state Web site that links abortion to a higher risk of breast cancer.

The Star Tribune of Minneapolis reports that the doctors are upset because the language, posted on the state Department of Health's site in September, is misleading.

"It is deliberately deceptive," Dr. Janette Strathy, legislative director of the Minnesota branch of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, told the Star Tribune. "It oversimplifies a very complex situation with the goal of frightening the patient."

The site, as well as a state pamphlet, says studies have said that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer; other studies, however, suggest no increased risk. That goes against the conclusions of the nation's leading medical institutions, including the National Cancer Institute, which found earlier this year that there is no evidence of an increased risk, according to the Star Tribune.

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Mourning's Kidney Transplant a Success

Alonzo Mourning, who was forced to retire from the National Basketball Association because of a kidney ailment, underwent a successful kidney transplant Friday, doctors say.

The Star-Ledger of Newark reports that both Mourning, 33, and a cousin who donated the kidney were in good condition at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia. He is expected to remain in the hospital from five to eight days, the paper reports.

The Miami Herald reports that it could take months or years to know whether the transplant is a complete success. But since the donor is a blood relative, the chances are improved. The Herald also says that Mourning did not jump ahead of others on a transplant waiting list because the donor was a cousin.

"Alonzo asks that all those who offered to donate a kidney to him extend that generosity to others who are waiting for transplants," Mourning's agent, Jeff Wechsler, said in a statement. "He appreciates all the well wishes and encouragement he has received from fans all around the world, and asks that the public respect his privacy during the recovery process."

Mourning retired Nov. 24, suffering from a condition called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Known as FSGS, it causes scarring on the filters of the kidney that remove toxins from the blood.

Mourning was diagnosed with the progressive disease in 2001, while a player with the Miami Heat. He ended his career as a member of the New Jersey Nets.

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Teen Drug Use Declines

Drug use by American students in grades 8, 10, and 12 has declined 11 percent in the past two years, which translates into 400,000 fewer teen drug users, according to a U.S. Health and Humans Services survey released Friday.

The survey found that in 2003, 17.3 percent of students were currently using (past 30 days) any illicit drug. Declines were also noted in illegal drug use over the past year (from 31.8 percent to 28.3 percent) and in lifetime use (from 41 percent to 37.4 percent).

Current use of marijuana, the most commonly used illicit drug, decreased from 16.6 percent to 14.8 percent of students. Past year use of marijuana went from 27.5 percent to 24.5 percent, and lifetime use dropped from 35.3 percent to 32.4 percent.

Among students in all three grades, there was marked increase in the perception that marijuana is a serious threat. Officials credit government and private anti-drug awareness campaigns for the decline in teenage drug use.

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Boston Ignores FDA Warning About Canadian Drugs

Dismissing U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concerns about safety, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino says the city will move ahead with plans to buy prescription drugs from Canada for certain city workers and retirees.

Menino met Wednesday with FDA officials, who say the city's plan is illegal and potentially dangerous because the FDA doesn't regulate drug shipments from Canada, the Boston Herald reports.

The city plans to start a pilot program in June. It will purchase prescription drugs from Canada for about 7,000 Boston city workers and retirees who are insured directly by the city. The program may save the city $1 million to $2 million, Menino estimates.

If the pilot project proves a success, the city may expand the program.

In the meeting, Menino asked the FDA officials to develop regulations that would let the city safely import drugs from Canada.

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Suits Allege False Pap Smear Certification

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is being sued for allegedly falsely certifying thousands of Pap tests.

Two lawsuits say doctors' electronic signatures were routinely put on test results that weren't actually checked by the doctors. The suits say this misled women into thinking their tests were being checked by physicians, putting the women at risk of diseases that may have gone undetected, the Associated Press reports.

Hospital officials say there is no merit to the lawsuits and that the allegations are causing many women unnecessary alarm. The hospital recommended that any concerned women contact their private doctors.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs charge that the hospital was trying to generate more revenue, the AP reports. They also allege that the hospital believed it could persuade more gynecologists to send samples for testing if the hospital claimed that Pap smears were checked by doctors rather than technicians.

One of the lawsuits says that some cancer patients and other women were incorrectly declared healthy in false Pap smear reports. It took as long as four years for some to be properly diagnosed.

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