New Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations Cause Obama Officials to Run For Cover.
11/19/09-by Paula Brooks
The Obama administration distanced itself Wednesday from new recommendations on breast cancer screening called for earlier this week by a federally appointed task force after concerns among women caused lawmakers of both sides of the isle to attack the study.
The new guidelines released this week by the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force suggested that only women over 50 need to get routine mammograms as part of breast cancer screening and said the early screenings are causing excess biopsies, unnecessary anxiety and the discovery and treatment of tumors that would not cause problems if let alone. Many doctors and experts however object to these recommendations, and say the task force is sending conflicting messages to women about how they can prevent breast cancer.
Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, (D-FLA), a survivor of breast cancer, said she was “very concerned” that the recommendations conflict with those of other authorities, like the American Cancer Society.
“At a time when we are working to reform our health care system to provide greater access to preventative care,” Wasserman Schultz said in a statement, “these guidelines and the fact that they conflict with many of the recommendations from leading cancer organizations only adds to the confusion that so many women have when it comes to breast health.”
“I am concerned that women are being given differing messages about how to prevent breast cancer,” Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said. “In addition to getting my own mammogram each year, I have been involved in public awareness campaigns to encourage other women my age to do so. I understand that there were many independent scientists involved in making this decision, but that there are also many respected medical experts that are disagreeing with the recommendations. I plan to seek some answers here so that women are getting a uniform message about how to protect themselves.”
Republicans meanwhile pointed out that the recommendations illustrated the dangers of a government role in medical decision-making and they raised the boogey man of health care rationing for woman.
“This is the little toe in the edge of the water,” said Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). “This is where you start getting a bureaucrat between you and your physician.”
Democratic staffers on Capitol Hill acknowledged yesterday that the recommendations in the midst of negotiations over a health care overhaul were “not helpful,” and one staffer from Representative Tammy Baldwin’s (D- WIS) office told LGR that people over at the executive branch, “sometimes just don’t seem to be on the same page, with what is going on in congress or with their bosses.”
Secretary Of Health And Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, acknowledged in a statement that the recommendations, by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, had “caused a great deal of confusion and worry,” and emphasized that the task force “is an outside independent panel of doctors and scientists who make recommendations” that neither “set federal policy” nor “determine what services are covered by the federal government.”
“The task force has presented some new evidence for consideration,” Sebelius added, “but our policies remain unchanged. Indeed, I would be very surprised if any private insurance company changed its mammography coverage decisions as a result of this action.”
However Sebelius did not say in her statement the government would not eventually embrace the recommendations from the task force, which is appointed by her department, and said only that “there has been debate in this country for years” about the proper age and interval for breast cancer screening.
Women in the United States have the highest incidence rates of breast cancer in the world. Breast cancer is the second-most common cancer (after skin cancer) and the second-most common cause of cancer death (after lung cancer).
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- Sebelius: U.S. mammogram policy unchanged (msnbc.msn.com)
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There’s a Breast and Lung cancer screen being developed that uses police dogs to smell breath samples to find the waste chemicals from cancer cells. (Different researchers have shown a 86%-98% success rate with a 0% false positive rate.) They have a sign up newsletter list at Dogs4cancer.com
first! boobies.
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He’s just waiting for campaign season."I’m Barack Obama, and I approve of your boo… err, this message".
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Buried for idiot title.
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BS it was a GREAT title! You’re just a douche. Admit it!
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The title is inaccurate and is based on a false assumption. Not to mention that it’s a sophomoric.Hey! Now you can falsely claim that "valis hates sophomores!"
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I you have both the castaways and the others attacking the same study…
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@valis OK douche whatever u say. Clearly you don’t know how titles work. You should have read the description. And it WAS Obama’s people who released the new study that women shouldn’t get mammograms till they are 50. Clearly you are also part of the boobie hating sausage fest that is digg.
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And any of you douchbags that bury this based on a title or just cause you are assholes will feel like real idiots when your mother, sister or wife gets diagnosed with breast cancer but it’s too late because she waited to get a mammogram till she was 50. Because that’s what our government told her to do.
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buried
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@SupplySideJebus Like it matters Dumb Fu** It was never gonna hit front page anyway. I knew that. Normally I don’t waist time engaging with trolls like you guys. But today I thought I’d entertain myself. I hope you know that none of you losers are ever going to get laid. Unless you pay a hooker. An then she’ll just be cringing that she has to do it with you. But she’ll be relived when her 10 seconds of misery with you are over. She’ll look back and think… Damn! I just made $100 for 10 seconds of my time.
This comment was originally posted on Digg
@SupplySideJebus Like it matters Dumb Fu** It was never gonna hit front page anyway. I knew that. Normally I don’t waist time engaging with trolls like you guys. But today I thought I’d entertain myself. I hope you know that none of you losers are ever going to get laid. Unless you pay a hooker. Poor girl. she’ll just be cringing that she has to do it with you. But she’ll be relived when her 10 seconds of misery with you are over. She’ll look back and think… Damn! I just made $100 for 10 seconds of my time.
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Apparently dyke with bad attitude doesn’t know how to analyze basic scientific research which says that mammograms under 50 are not merely not a good diagnostic tool but can actually increase breast cancer risk…
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I blame Obama for increased breast cancer rates and resulting higher mortality among the female segment of the population that he ignored for his own political gain./conservative equivalent to liberal whinage blaming everything under the sun on Bush
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The title implies the opposite of what the article even says!The administration — and lots of doctors and breast cancer survivors — are up in arms about the new recommendation NOT to get a mammogram. The Obama admin is distancing itself from this recommendation for the very reason that it’s not popular, and may actually be irresponsible (my wife sure as hell is ignoring it). Yeah, it’s political. But still…. political for the opposite reason the title implies.-Pie
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