Then I read your book. I stopped encouraging mammograms because of what you said about the radiation. I also stopped talking about breast cancer. I didn't know what to say.
Then came the announcements this week. They made me angry -- because so little was said about the radiation being the legitimate reason to cut back, and so much was said about the anxiety of false positives, and the impracticality of only saving one life for every 1900 mammograms. And nothing was said about the devastation of children losing their mothers. Nor did I hear discussion about educating the public more about the risk factors other than family history (like alcohol useor carrying extra weight), or what other options there might be (and I listen to NPR almost all day at my job).
I did hear that health insurance companies might use this as a way to stop paying for mammograms. I also heard Democratic Senator Dick Durbin say that this was a panel put together by the Bush administration (and I am extremely aware of the deadly dismissing and/or censoring of scientific evidence done by Bush/Cheney and the corporate lobbyists brought in to wreak havoc throughout federal agencies, and have written about it myself), implying the timing of the release was chosen to further frighten the public and Congress about health care reform.
So, Dr. Davis, I am turning to you. As I Googled, I looked for other options for detecting early breast cancer, and I discovered that just days before the USPSTF recommendations were announced, the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute revealed a new breast cancer screening device, called SoftVue, which uses sonic signals, rather than radiation, and is supposed to be more accurate, less expensive, and, most important, less invasive, than current technology.
Is this the solution? I looked in the index of your book for the two doctors mentioned in the announcement, Ann G. Schwartz, and Peter J. Littrup, but they weren't there.
What are women supposed to do?
Thank you so much for your work and courageous writing and public statements. I look forward to your response.
Barbara Bellows-TerraNova
Meanwhile, until I get a reply, dear readers, ASK QUESTIONS. I will return to this when I know more.
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