I take hopefulness wherever I can find it, and this week I am hopeful about breast cancer. For me, it began on Monday evening, when Katie Couric reported on the recommendations put forward by a group of government-appointed doctors. I’m no expert on breast cancer, but I am sufficiently paranoid, so when I heard the news that mammograms and self exams aren’t all they’ve been cracked up to be, I immediately wondered what the insurance companies were up to. My second thought was about women in general. I think we’re still a little uncomfortable with women who are powerful and capable of making things happen. Unfortunately, some of the biggest chauvinist pigs I know are physicians, and I think they’re a little uncomfortable with having to share the country club that is the medical profession. I know for a fact that in the world of medical research, some diseases get more attention – and more funding – than others, and when that happens, the competition becomes ferocious. With that in mind, it doesn’t really surprise me that a group of physicians would get together and throw stones at the breast cancer machine (I use the word “machine” only because I don’t want to use “community”).
What did surprise me, in a very pleasant way, was the speed and conviction with which people I routinely ridicule told the doctors to go straight to hell, on national television no less. I'm no breast cancer expert, but I seriously doubt the numbers that went along with the recommendation that women not worry about mammograms before the age of 40, and then only every two years, and the statement that self exams are pointless, really. I find it hard to believe that only one in 1,400 women successfully battle breast cancer as a result of early detection thanks to a mammogram when I personally know a number of women who are living today because of a mammogram. I’m also curious to know how this commission defines “successful.” I know that when you switch from health insurance through COBRA to a private plan, you’re eligible to buy individual coverage for 63 days after the COBRA expires. I realize that’s totally unrelated, but my question is, if some commission can arrive at 63 days, what sort of hocus pocus have the experts injected into the formula used to determine what “successful” means when it comes to treating breast cancer? Anything’s possible, I believe. The government paid for this week’s bit of wisdom, but who paid the government? Is some company with lots of money and lots of influence getting ready to introduce some new “innovation” that will “revolutionize” the way breast cancer is treated? Relatively speaking, mammograms are pretty affordable, so maybe it’s time to up the ante. Despite their affordability, maybe the volume has driven the insurance companies to look for any excuse to stop covering them. Is a new drug about to be put on the market? Is it a coincidence that these recommendations were released almost in perfect synchronicity with one senator’s declaration of war – his words, not mine – on healthcare reform?
For all I know, mammograms may be the biggest PR stunt of our time. For all I know, mammograms may actually poison the women who have them. Having never had one, I cannot say for sure. But I can say for sure that it made for more hopeful television than I’ve seen in a long while. Robin Roberts, who has battled breast cancer herself, snapped out of her usual schmaltz mode and took the very boorish doctor she was interviewing to task over the numbers. Katie Couric interrupted one of the experts to ask how many women were involved in the recommendations. And best of all, one of the network’s medical correspondents, when asked if she planned to advise her own patients to follow the new recommendations, said, “No, absolutely not.”
What did surprise me, in a very pleasant way, was the speed and conviction with which people I routinely ridicule told the doctors to go straight to hell, on national television no less. I'm no breast cancer expert, but I seriously doubt the numbers that went along with the recommendation that women not worry about mammograms before the age of 40, and then only every two years, and the statement that self exams are pointless, really. I find it hard to believe that only one in 1,400 women successfully battle breast cancer as a result of early detection thanks to a mammogram when I personally know a number of women who are living today because of a mammogram. I’m also curious to know how this commission defines “successful.” I know that when you switch from health insurance through COBRA to a private plan, you’re eligible to buy individual coverage for 63 days after the COBRA expires. I realize that’s totally unrelated, but my question is, if some commission can arrive at 63 days, what sort of hocus pocus have the experts injected into the formula used to determine what “successful” means when it comes to treating breast cancer? Anything’s possible, I believe. The government paid for this week’s bit of wisdom, but who paid the government? Is some company with lots of money and lots of influence getting ready to introduce some new “innovation” that will “revolutionize” the way breast cancer is treated? Relatively speaking, mammograms are pretty affordable, so maybe it’s time to up the ante. Despite their affordability, maybe the volume has driven the insurance companies to look for any excuse to stop covering them. Is a new drug about to be put on the market? Is it a coincidence that these recommendations were released almost in perfect synchronicity with one senator’s declaration of war – his words, not mine – on healthcare reform?
For all I know, mammograms may be the biggest PR stunt of our time. For all I know, mammograms may actually poison the women who have them. Having never had one, I cannot say for sure. But I can say for sure that it made for more hopeful television than I’ve seen in a long while. Robin Roberts, who has battled breast cancer herself, snapped out of her usual schmaltz mode and took the very boorish doctor she was interviewing to task over the numbers. Katie Couric interrupted one of the experts to ask how many women were involved in the recommendations. And best of all, one of the network’s medical correspondents, when asked if she planned to advise her own patients to follow the new recommendations, said, “No, absolutely not.”
