Controversy Persists Over Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Article Date: 13 Jul 2010 - 4:00 PDT

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Eight months after the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released updated breast cancer screening guidelines, some physicians and lawmakers continue to call for the guidelines' withdrawal, Long Island Newsday reports.

The guidelines recommend that women with a normal risk for breast cancer begin breast cancer screening and mammograms at age 50, rather than age 40. USPSTF said the change was meant to reduce harm from overtreatment and patient anxiety. The task force also recommended against teaching breast self-examination and said women ages 50 through 74 should undergo less-frequent mammograms.

According to Newsday, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius issued a statement one day after the guidelines were issued, saying that they did not represent government policy and that women should continue to "do what [they]'ve always done." The guidelines, which are posted on a website run by HHS, have been modified to state that women ages 40 through 49 who want mammograms should get them if their doctor advises it.

Nonetheless, the controversy surrounding the guidelines "will not go away," Newsday reports. In May, Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) claimed in a letter to Sebelius that the federal health reform law (PL 111-148) required the government to retract the guidelines. He wrote, "The fact that these recommendations are still being presented to the general public as 'current' is only serving to further confuse women on this critical issue." He added that the guidelines "were ill-conceived from the start" and "represent a step backward in our fight against a horrible disease." Vitter requested that HHS remove the guidelines from the Internet and "cease all promotion" of them.

Joe DiGrado, Vitter's spokesperson, said the senator has not yet received a response from Sebelius. HHS did not respond to questions from Newsday regarding whether the department is considering withdrawing the guidelines (Ricks, Newsday, 7/12).

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