The childhood death rate from cancer fell 20% in the United States from 1990 to 2004 due largely to improvements in treatment for leukemia, but children on the West Coast still have the highest mortality rate, according to government figures released Thursday.

  Rodents treated with reprogrammed adult cells show vast improvement after three months. The therapy is several years away from being applied to humans.Taking the next step in a series of breakthrough stem cell experiments, scientists have cured sickle cell anemia in mice by rewinding their skin cells to an embryonic state and manipulating them to create healthy, genetically matched replacement tissue.

  Peter Houghton, the world's longest-surviving recipient of an artificial heart, died Nov. 25 at a hospital in his home city of Birmingham, England. He was 68.

  Fitness tests reveal that public school students are slightly trimmer than a year ago, but many youngsters fail California's basic level of conditioning. In L.A., the results are more discouraging.California public school students are slightly trimmer and fitter than they were a year ago, but many still are unable to meet the state's basic level of fitness, according to figures released Thursday by the state Department of Education. And students in Los Angeles, especially high school students, were significantly less fit than the state average.

  The EPA plans to resume long-stalled testing for uranium mine hazards, but a coordinated federal strategy is still lacking, lawmakers told.The Environmental Protection Agency plans to resume long-stalled testing for toxics on the Navajo reservation unleashed by abandoned Cold War uranium mines, but it and four other federal agencies have yet to come up with overall cleanup and health plans, their representatives told seven House members in a closed meeting this week.

  Genentech shares plunge. The vote could be a sign of tougher standards at the agency.A Food and Drug Administration panel dealt a sharp blow to biotech giant Genentech Inc. on Wednesday by refusing to recommend approval for the company's high-profile drug Avastin as a treatment for breast cancer.

  Jack Witherspoon, 7, learned to cook while undergoing treatment uses his passion to put on a fundraiser for his cancer center.Those who crowded into a Redondo Beach restaurant could scarcely believe what 7-year-old Jack Witherspoon cooked up Wednesday night.

  Patients dropped by Blue Shield may sue as a class, a panel says.In a victory for consumers, a state appeals court Tuesday opened the way for class-action lawsuits against insurers that may have improperly dropped individuals for alleged errors and omissions on applications after medical claims had been submitted.

  The actor and his wife say the labeling of heparin by the manufacturer helped lead to the accidental overdose of their infant twins.Actor Dennis Quaid and wife Kimberly sued a leading blood-thinner manufacturer Tuesday, saying the labeling and design of the product led to a massive overdose of their newborn twins last month at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

  A study comparing the use of a placebo with the drug treatment finds little difference. Patience and over-the-counter remedies are recommended.The widespread use of standard antibiotics to treat sinus infections does not help cure patients and may harm them by increasing their resistance to the drugs, according to a study released Tuesday.