Saturday, November 21, 2009

Don't worry ladies, everything will be all right


Earlier this week, a government task force stated that most women don't need to start having annual mammograms until age 50. And now, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) says women don't need a PAP every year. Having a PAP every other year is just fine.

How many women have been saved by these tests? How many women in their 40s would die if their insurance companies stopped covering mammograms before age 50?

While the studies show that most cancers can be caught under the new guidelines, what about those that would be missed until it was too late? Don't let the hoopla regarding the less stress, less false positives, and any inconvenience fool you. These findings are about cost effectiveness not about actual health care. How much are the lives of a few women worth I wonder?

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