Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, revealed he underwent surgery for a cancerous tumor in Cuba earlier last month. The 56 year old, who remains in Cuba while he recovers, made his announcement during a televised speech yesterday. Chavez did not disclose what type of cancer he has, but it is in the pelvic region.

Chavez gave no timeline for his return to Venezuela, but said he is carrying out his official duties while in Cuba. There was no mention of an interim official to act in his absence. Many speculate that his length absence may be due to additional treatments, such as chemotherapy or radiation. Considering we don't know what type of cancer he suffers from, it's hard to speculate.

Once again, McNeil Consumer Health Care, the maker of Tylenol, has issued a product recall. Almost 70,000 bottles of Extra Strength Tylenol caplets are involved in the recall due to reports of a musty, moldy odor. The smell has been linked to trace amounts of a chemical that may cause minor gastrointestinal upset.

Product Information:

• Tylenol, Extra Strength Caplets, 225 count
• Lot Number: ABA619
• UPC Code: 300450444271

For more information and to request a refund or coupon if you have a recalled product, please visit Tylenol.

For some clinics across the nation, the supply of Taxol is running low. Doctors and patients are experiencing a shortage of the chemotherapy drug used to treat ovarian and breast cancer in women. While no official cause of the shortage has been released, many doctors and patients are placing the blame of corporate economics. Taxol is a generic drug, which equals a low profit margin. The logic behind this theory is, why produce a large amount of a drug when profits are low?

Of course, this is only a theory. Problems with quality control or other manufacturing issues could be the culprit. We simply don't know.  What I am concerned about is the fact that there is no legislation that requires drug manufacturers to alert the FDA when supplies become short. When doctors' offices place an order for a drug that has a low supply, they are told that the drug in "backordered". So, what are patients and doctors to do? Taxol is a lifesaving drug for many, many women. Yes, it may be  be substituted by another drug in some cases, but this is still unacceptable.

There is currently a bill before Congress that addresses medication shortages and required FDA notification by drug makers, the Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act. You can track the bill's progress at govtrack.us.

In a interview with CNN's Piers Morgan, actor Ryan O'Neal made some bold and odd claims. I don't know which is worse, the fact that he called his daughter's suicide attempt "fake" or that his daughter was basically the cause of Farrah Fawcett's cancer. Here's what the actor revealed to Morgan on Monday night's show:

"What bothers me the most is that there was turmoil during my love affair with Farrah. A lot of it caused by my family, by my kids. All of them. Particularly Tatum. That I just think that if she had never met us, would she still be alive today?

"Because nobody knows what causes cancer, do they really? And she didn't smoke. And she didn't drink. She exercised every day. And she believed in her good health. And then we came along. The four of us. And gradually she got weaker. I don't know. I think it's highly possible. I wasn't able to straighten out the mess that we were in and we sucked her in."

Hmmm. Well, here's the thing about cancer. Yes, we don't always know why someone develops cancer. Many stricken with cancer are at a loss and this if often hard to come to grips with, especially when someone is health conscious and leads a healthy lifestyle. However, with many types of cancer, we do know what may or may not cause cancer. In Farrah's case, she suffered from anal cancer, a disease that most often strikes after age 50. We know that HPV plays a role in anal cancer development, as does having many sex partners, engaging in anal sex, and also smoking. Given that we don't know Farrah's complete medical and social history, its really hard to speculate why she developed it in the first place. But, to insinuate that family stress, especially related to his daughter Tatum O'Neal, was a bit unfounded, in my opinion.

Farrah's death brought much needed awareness to a disease that doesn't have a designated awareness month or walks backed by large corporations. Think about it, when is the last time you saw an anal cancer awareness ribbon? She showed us that anal cancer is real, it doesn't just affect gay men (as some misinformed people believe), and that no one, even a celebrity, is immune to the wrath of cancer.

For Ryan O'Neal to public say such a crazy statement is beyond me. I have learned long ago that desperation for publicity makes people say and do the oddest things. And this just may be a prime example of a desperate ploy for public attention.