Mom, This Post Is For You

Nunly (aka, Divine Democrat), has allowed us to publish her post from Bad Habit.

Last night, while watching TV, I heard a blip on the news about how woman are being told that we don’t need those nasty ol’ mammograms anymore until we are 50 years old…and even then, only once every two years. My jaw just dropped. I thought it was some ridiculous rogue group that were shooting their mouth off, but no…it’s our government telling us that.

By now I’m sure most have already heard this news, so I guess I’m just writing this to blow off some steam and write my own views on this subject.

Ok…first let’s look at this government task force that has decided women should be the first in line to be thrown under the health care bus in order to save our government and the health insurance companies the costs of caring for us. According to the Chicago Tribune, this is “an influential group” called The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, a government sponsored group whose work is closely followed by doctors and insurance companies.

Now, maybe I’ve been living in a cave, but I’ve never even heard of this group before. Apparently, they consist of four public Health/Preventative Health, two Family Medicine, two Pediatricians, and two Ob/Gyn doctors. Not one Cancer Surgeon, Oncologist, or Radiologist is in this group…not one.

Oh…and it gets better. This government task force also recommends that they don’t have “sufficient” evidence that women over the age of 75 should have mammograms. Yup…no big deal ladies, once you’re old you can just die and get out of the way.

Women do have some advocates who are fighting for us, though. Dr. Daniel Kopans, senior radiologist in the breast imaging division at Massachusetts General Hospital said, “This will be disastrous for women’s health.” Dr. Robert Schmidt, a professor of radiology at the University of Chicago Medical Center said, “It’s arrogant and irresponsible”, “It’s wrong to keep changing recommendations and give conflicting messages to women.

It doesn’t seem to matter to this task force that deaths from breast cancer has dropped 30% since 1990. On Uppity Woman’s blog…which has a great post about this story today, I read in her comment section that a comment on an NPR site, written by a mammogram tech said this:

One in every 6 women now gets breast cancer. From 50-60 your risk quadruples. From 60-70 your risk quintuples. Between 50 and 70 is the most dangerous time to get breast cancer. To decrease mammograms to every two years is a death wish for women in this age demographic. The # 1 cause of breast cancer is diet, the 2nd cause environmental effects and the LAST is hereditary. I have seen as young as 19 years old with double mastectomy to 90 year olds with Breast cancer. Cancer doesn’t care what age you are or what sex you are.

Breast cancer strikes 211,000 U.S. women each year and kills more than 40,000, making it the leading cause of cancer and second-biggest cancer killer (after lung cancer) among women. But I guess if this farce of a task force says women don’t need it…we should all just relax, right?

Now, to get personal. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when screening found a lump on her breast when she was 70 years old. Her mother was found to have breast cancer when she was 75 years old and had a mastectomy. In my mother’s case, she was able to have a lumpectomy because it was found early enough. After the removal of a couple of her lymph nodes, she was given radiation and chemotherapy. Had my mother not had that mammogram then, she would be dead today. I can’t even imagine what my life would be without her in it. Coincidently, just last week I brought her in for her annual mammogram and she will be seen by her Oncologist next week to go over the results. Since her surgery, she has been on medication that has been shown to help keep women from recurring cancer. This medication is very expensive and it’s no surprise to me that since this health care bill has been going through Congress and now the Senate, there are grumblings from Medicare that they don’t want to pay for this pill anymore. This was never an issue until our government has been pushing this new health care bill.

This so-called government task force is making this recommendation and cherry picking data for one reason only…to help keep costs down for this ridiculous health care bill that’s in the Senate and that Obama is determined to sign. The bill in Congress has already shown that they want to cut Medicare spending and what better way to do that than to not pay for the costs of breast cancer screening for women over the age of 70?

* Report: Bill would reduce senior care – Medicare cuts approved by House may affect access to providers. WP.

A plan to slash more than $500 billion from future Medicare spending — one of the biggest sources of funding for President Obama’s proposed overhaul of the nation’s health-care system — would sharply reduce benefits for some senior citizens and could jeopardize access to care for millions of others, according to a government evaluation released Saturday.

The report offers the clearest and most authoritative assessment to date of the effect that Democratic health reform proposals would have on Medicare and Medicaid, the nation’s largest public health programs.

The American College of Radiology, representing professionals who perform mammograms, addressed the fears of those who see the new health care reform as limiting tests and procedures to stem rising health care costs. In an article in the Chicago Tribune this morning, Dr. Carol Lee, chairwoman of the American College of Radiology’s Breast Imaging Commission said; “I just don’t understand what would make the (task force) change their recommendations when there really is no significant change in the data. This has to be about costs.”

Breast cancer can’t be ignored or wished away by a bunch of government bureaucrats. But of course, they can get away with this as long as we stay silent. This isn’t just a women’s issue. Guys, if you have a wife that you dearly love, do you want to take the chance on her missing a diagnosis for breast cancer because your health insurance will decide to only pay for tests on the recommendation of this government task force? Would you want your teen or adult daughter to succumb to breast cancer because she was told that self-examination is useless?

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For more information on the Congressional Health Care bill, Quipster had a great post up yesterday (which is where I found the information on the proposed Medicare and Medicaid cuts).

Below is another great article written on this issue…

Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Radiology Director Responds to New Mammography Screening Recommendations

“Women need a clear message: early detection offers a woman the best chance for a cure, and mammography is essential for early detection of breast cancer. The Seattle Cancer Care Alliance continues to support annual screening mammograms for women beginning at age 40 as does the American Cancer Society. In fact, according to the ACS, 17 percent of breast cancer deaths in 2006 were among women who were diagnosed between ages 40 and 49.

“We know that digital mammography significantly improves the detection of cancer in young women and in women with dense breast tissue. These well-documented facts are not included in the analyses that led to the change in recommendations. It is important that women receive their mammograms at centers with the ability to provide high quality exams and that all women understand the importance of mammography for the early detection of breast cancer.”

“Failing to identify those women in their 40s with cancer and having them wait until they are screened at age 50 is a disservice. By then breast cancer can be advanced and more difficult to treat.”

UPDATE I: READ HOTAIR WHICH HAS AN EXCELLENT POST WHICH ALSO LISTS THE NAMES AND SPECIALTY OF THOSE ON THE TASK FORCE. THEY NOTE: “Not a single Oncologist in the group,not one!

UPDATE II: Per blogger SFIndie…. Please let your voices be heard! “The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Agency For Healthcare Research And Quality (check their website). This is the “for more information, contact” person. I’ll be contacting her and letting her know exactly how I feel:”

Therese Miller, Dr.P.H.
Project Coordinator
Center for Primary Care, Prevention, & Clinical Partnerships
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
540 Gaither Road
Rockville, MD 20850
Phone: (301) 427-1585
Fax: (301) 427-1597

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Editor’s Note: Please also see Pat Racimora’s excellent cartoon and fine commentary, “New Recommendations, Let Health Care Rationing Begin.”