Actually, this is where legislation DONE WELL can prevent stupidity that sides with cost cutting and sacrifices lives for profit. This is EXACTLY why we need effective legislation and move forward to bring the highest standards of care to everyone without siding with cutting costs and inconvenience.
Women over 40 should have recommendations to have regular mammograms and men should have prostate checks and both genders should have follow ups. If I didn't take the recommendation of my physician seriously, I would have been diagnosed far later and with greater peril to my health.
This must have come from Bush's Advisory Panel as a 'political volleyball' to twart Health Care Insurance Reform. I need to find the source. And then figure out of this was some kind of 'cock-eyed' political view of the world.
One thing the American consumer has to remember, the 'guidelines' SET DOWN in the House Reform Bill specifically states there is a 'public inclusion' in the decisions by any Advisory Panel. I read 'same' here on this blog. The public and its advocacy groups are INCLUDED in the decision making regarding the public's well being. THAT is not the case in the current Bush Advisory Panel.
Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Recommends No Impediments to Breast Cancer Screening Until Science Improves (click here), Current Screening Recommendations Should Remain, World’s Leading Breast Cancer Organization Reports
DALLAS – November 16, 2009 – Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the world’s leading breast cancer advocacy organization, has carefully reviewed the data and new recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) concerning mammography screening. Komen for the Cure issued the following statement today from Eric P. Winer, M.D., chief scientific adviser and chair of Komen’s Scientific Advisory Board.
“Susan G. Komen for the Cure wants to eliminate any impediments to regular mammography screening for women age 40 and older. While there is no question that mammograms save lives for women over 50 and women 40–49, there is enough uncertainty about the age at which mammography should begin and the frequency of screening that we would not want to see a change in policy for screening mammography at this time.”...
This is what promoted the whole thing. It is related to 'SPENDING' and forget about the lives that were saved.
New Studies Show the Downside Of Cancer Screening (click here for additional video)
False Positives Bring High Costs, But Doctors Back the Value of Cancer Tests
By JOSEPH BROWNSTEIN
ABC News Medical Unit
Sept. 1, 2009
Recent years have seen a rise in encouragement for cancer screenings, but a number of studies have reminded physicians and their patients of the old saying about free lunches.
That is, nothing good comes without a cost.
Two studies released Monday -- one looking at prostate cancer and the other at breast cancer -- appearing in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, show that increased screening brings false positives and the costs of emotional anguish and sometimes unnecessary treatment.
"The fact that it is a surprise to so many physicians and so many patients is a symptom of the debate taking place now regarding health care reform," said Dr. Thomas Schwenk, a family physician with the University of Michigan, commenting on the prostate cancer study. "
The American approach to medical care is to always do more, irrespective of whether it has any value, and even in the face of data showing that doing more causes harm."
The Legislature needs to include in the Health Care Insurance Reform Bill a provision for using the 'highest standard' of safety for all citizens NOT 'the mean' of any statistics that sides with 'risk taking,' especially when the issue is life threatening such as cancer. This is a silly recommendation and needs to be reversed. It is a direct political attack on the new Health Care Insurance Reform Bills before the legislature now.
