A man who was told he was dying of cancer has been eluding police and the courtroom in New Zealand to avoid going to prison. His reasoning? Since he's dying, he's got nothing to lose and he doesn't want to spend his final days in prison. To be honest, I don't blame him. I might do the same thing if I was staring death in the face.

But now officials are beginning to question the legitimacy of his cancer claims. A known methamphetamine addict, 34-year-old Tifiga Atanoa was arrested with a large tumor on his neck, but that has since seemingly disappeared. What's more, upon re-arrest, he didn't admit to any illness. Is he ill or a liar looking for an excuse to run from the law? He's in police custody now and will face trial later this month.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) of Ohio has filed a lawsuit challenging the state's workplace smoking ban. The ban exempts some military veterans' halls and other private clubs -- and the ASC says this is not OK.

The exemption waters down the law and exposes people to secondhand smoke, say ACS spokeswoman Wendy Simpkins.

The smoking ban was approved by 58 percent of voters in November, took effect in December, and will result in fining beginning the first week in May. The law prohibits smoking in most public places, such as restaurants, bars, and office and excludes tobacco shops, designated hotel rooms, and enclosed areas of nursing homes. Halls and clubs can be excluded from the law only if there are no employees.

Jay Carey, spokesman for the state Health Department, says public health officials have the authority to set rules for enforcement. They ultimately decided that VFW halls and other private clubs were exempt if they had only members as employees. For the exemption to apply, such clubs also must be nonprofit and in a freestanding building. No nonmembers or children under age 18 can be present.

The ACS argues that the state rules are confusing and make the law unworkable.

Fred Thompson, actor and former United States Senator from Tennessee, made the announcement today that he was diagnosed with lymphoma a few years ago and now is in remission.

Thompson added to that announcement that he was considering running in the 2008 Presidential Election. He stated today on Fox News, "I have had no illness from it, or even any symptoms. I am in remission, and it is very treatable with drugs if treatment is needed in the future -- and with no debilitating side effects".

You can find Thompson playing a district attorney Arthur Branch on the NBC drama Law and Order.

Nearly a decade ago, women in Long Island began to worry about their high rates of breast cancer. So they advocated and lobbied and pushed until a public law was passed that allowed for the creation of the Long Island Breast Cancer Project. Funded by both the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, great data has emerged from this project -- like the data linking breast cancer and household pesticides.

Although much research has linked cancer with pesticides in work and industrial settings, few studies have investigated what these chemicals can do in households -- until now, thanks to research conducted as part of The Long Island Breast Cancer Project.

Published online in the December 13 American Journal of Epidemiology, researchers found an association between lifetime residential pesticide use and breast cancer risk in a sample of 1,508 Long Island women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1996 and 1997. These women were compared to 1,556 random controls. All women were asked to self-report their pesticide exposure and to offer blood samples for the study of organochlorine compound levels -- found in lawn and garden products.

As expected, researchers found an increased breast cancer risk for women whose blood samples showed the highest levels of organochlorine compounds. They also found it hard to find women who did not use lawn and garden pesticides to some degree.

Use of household pesticides has infiltrated our society, says researcher Susan Teitelbaum, assistant professor in the department of community medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, who reports she is happy to see a movement toward use of alternative methods, like integrated pest management.

Teitelbaum has just one recommendation as result of this study. It's quite simple really -- stop using pesticides.

A new year. A new law. Effective today, smokers are banned from lighting up in most public places in Washington DC .

Restaurants, bars, and indoor workplaces are now considered smoke-free in the District. The new law takes full effect today -- January 2, 2007.

More than half of the nation's population now lives in areas where smoking is banned in public places, according to the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation.

In 2006 alone, nine statewide bans were adopted by lawmakers. In total, 22 states have passed smoking bans. And 16 states have passed laws banning smoking in bars.

In addition to Washington DC, smoking bans also go into effect today in Bloomington and Normal, Illinois.

Work gives us a sense of purpose; a way to provide for ourselves; and social contact -- all important to health and wellbeing. For those facing the struggles to survive cancer, work can represent a normalcy needed in a time where not much else seems very normal. The activity of work can reflect a hope that even though cancer has temporarily disrupted daily life, one day it will get better -- we are going to get better. Not losing your job when you must go through cancer treatment is a way of having your place in society saved. A message, we will all be here when you get back -- your work life will be here when you can come back.

BBC News investigated how some cancer patients are being mistreated in the workplace and it is appalling. One woman wanted to return to work after treatment for breast cancer and her managers asked her to resign for her own good. They were merely looking out for her, they said. Another woman was told she had become a bad investment.

You can read more at BBC News Cancer patients misery at work. If you are thinking, there ought to be a law -- there is a law to protect workers dealing with serious illnesses against job discrimination. Doesn't appear to stop some companies from acting like insensitive dolts, but there is a law.

"On the night of my first round of chemotherapy, exactly six hours after I left the oncologist's office wondering what all the fuss was about, my stomach tumbled into my knees, my knees refused to work altogether, and I crumpled to the floor in a clammy, shivering heap.
   
I lay there until dawn, at one point vomiting on myself, at another crying that I'd rather die of cancer than undergo chemo again."

Breast cancer made me a criminal is a Boston Globe opinion piece written by Lynda Gorov -- a breast cancer patient who shares a personal account of the misery she suffered from the side effects of chemotherapy treatment and her choice to turn to the possible use of marijuana for relief. She pulls no punches and makes a good point, by way of using herself as an example, for the benefits of medical marijuana use and the ludicrous stand the government has taken to the legalities of marijuana for medical purposes. If you are sitting on the fence on this issue, or have never gone through chemotherapy and might not appreciate the grueling life-debilitating experience, her editorial is a fair one to read.