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Doctors Answer Mammogram Concerns

November 18, 2009 6:23 PM

Dr. Jon LaPook speaks with breast surgeon Dr. Freya Schnabel and radiologist Dr. David Dershaw about concerns over a controversial federal advisory report on mammograms.

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by jfsonne November 22, 2009 6:54 PM EST
"And insurance companies will be required to cover, with no extra charge, routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies - because there's no reason we shouldn't be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse. That makes sense, it saves money, and it saves lives."
Barack Obama 9/9/2009
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by rboothmd November 21, 2009 2:37 PM EST
Great job Dr. LaPook and team! This video is the perfect resource for my patients who are confused by mixed messages. Thank you so much for taking on this issue!
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by gkh11 November 19, 2009 4:46 PM EST
WOW, these post are great...what you sheep don't understand is that cancer is a business...mammograms are useless...when a tumor is detected by any of these machines which actually casuse cancer the cancer has beengrowing inside you for years already...chemo kills more people than it helps and kills just about every good cell in your body that would normally fight off disease and infection.

If you stop eating the fast food, drinking soda, consuming large amounts of refined wheat and sugar, you all would be suprised at how well that prevents cancer...Cancer tests and treatments are all about $$$$....WAKE UP! There is no reason people need to get yearly screenings that costs thousands of $$$!
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by NicoleJantze November 19, 2009 12:48 PM EST
I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 39 after my first mammogram. I had no identifiable risk factors and no family history of the disease. I elected to have a mammogram based on the fact that the guidelines recommended it and because I lived in Marin County, California - a place with the dubious honor of having one of the highest breast cancer rates in the country. I was diagnosed on December 22, 2006 and had a mastectomy on January 17, 2007 and am currently being treated with tamoxifen. The new guidelines feel like a step backwards in women's health. I am most appalled by one of the reasons for the recommendation - that 3 out of 4 women have a false positive and this will eliminate their anxiety. I know 3 women who had false positives - this reasoning means I would have died to eliminate the anxiety they went through. I know they would elect to experience that anxiety to save my life. Had the guidelines been in place when I was 39, I would not have survived. I am thankful that I will be spending another Thanksgiving with my 12 year old son and 7 year old daughter this year.
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by leeanna59 November 19, 2009 11:45 AM EST
I'm quite certain that men should have their appendage examined in like manner as a mammogram.
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by DrAmd November 19, 2009 11:36 AM EST
1) Mammograms are terrible exams, the MRI is much better, but isn't cost effective. Many more lives would be saved if MRI's were available cheaply.
2) This is just the beginning of Healthcare rationing. Policy groups will choose cost effective medicines, procedures and work-ups. Cost effectiveness will be the first "medical question" that will need to be answered. Just as Dr. Spock said,"In any case, were I to invoke logic, logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." -- Spock
"Or the one." -- Kirk (Star Trek II)
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by nonsensex November 19, 2009 11:35 AM EST
I guess the President was smart on this activity. He must have really been able to look ahead in order to start a program in 1984 to use for his benefit today. Or perhaps many people just do not do their homework! Perhaps this report, and many others they have prepared, should be evaluated based on the facts presented, not emotion or politics.


http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstfab.htm is a link to the following:::::::

"The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), first convened by the U.S. Public Health Service in 1984, and since 1998 sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), is the leading independent panel of private-sector experts in prevention and primary care. The USPSTF conducts rigorous, impartial assessments of the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of a broad range of clinical preventive services, including screening, counseling, and preventive medications. Its recommendations are considered the "gold standard" for clinical preventive services.

The mission of the USPSTF is to evaluate the benefits of individual services based on age, gender, and risk factors for disease; make recommendations about which preventive services should be incorporated routinely into primary medical care and for which populations; and identify a research agenda for clinical preventive care."
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by shirlene4 November 19, 2009 11:32 AM EST
This new guidelines for mammograms suggests that it would be cost effective for women over age 50 to receive mammograms than for women under age 50. It will only start a chain reaction. Health providers will make new adjustments for coverage and not include women under the age of 50 to receive mammograms. Doctors will not schedule their patients under the age of 50 for mammograms because of the costs to their patients. On the other hand, doctors who prescribe mammograms for patients under 50 (the patient) will not go to have it done because the health provider will not cover the expense. The availability of free clinics offering this service will be fewer in numbers. Therefore, women will not get diagnosed until it?s too late. I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 45. Now, I'm 52 years old. Thanks to God and mammograms, I'm alive today!
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by bubbadubba November 19, 2009 11:10 AM EST
All women have to do is google research from top medical institutions to see that mammograms cause up to 75% of all breast cancer due to ionization radiation.
So if women choose to give themselves cancer, that's their choice.
I don't see the issue here.
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by jab232 November 19, 2009 9:59 AM EST
"These are just guidelines. no one is denying anyone a mammogram,"

Come on! Finally, insurers will deny coverage for mammograms on the basis of these recommendations, and we all know it.
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