Comments on: Government Flips The Script On Breast Exams

By: MOMMYofTWO

MOMMYofTWO — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:07:16 +0000

PEOPLE WANTED CHANGE!!! GUESS WHAT… THEY ARE GETTING CHANGE. This is horrible! I work in the health care industry – I’m a nurse and we are always always educating women to perform breast self examinations and to start mammograms at the age of 40 – it’s crucial for early detection and chances of survival… I can’t believe this!

By: SnakeMD

SnakeMD — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:11:09 +0000

To Genomic Repairman: you say “most doc’s don’t make a ton of money…” Wow! Every doctor I have ever known seems to do well with the mountain house, the European summer vacations, all the kids in private school, the big German autos and or Land Rovers–and wifey-poo only has to work at all those volunteer gigs… Wait, I do have a doctor friend from India who dispenses shots at the VA hospital who makes under $100K, but he lives on a tight Hindu budget. And as a snake MD I only get to treat those who get wounded behind enemy lines.

By: Genomic Repairman

Genomic Repairman — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:41:34 +0000

YNot are you a mongoloid dumpsterbaby? Goddamn man, mammograms are saving lives of women w/o familial or other risk factors that probably would have gone undiagnosed into later stages and died. And colonoscopies are vogue because they are also saving lives too. We get vaccinated for diseases that most of us don’t have so we don’t have to ever run the risk of getting them because some dogass hillbilly returns from a walking tour of the wetlands of West Africa. Besides in case you haven’t check, most doc’s don’t make a ton of money considering about 50% of the average practice is medicaid and medicare (read brokeass) and they are lucky to get $5 over their costs. While we do have some misallocation of medical resources, I and many others thing mammograms and colonoscopies are not one of them.

By: patricia

patricia — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:21:10 +0000

This is crazy. Last night, in a group of five people having beers, we counted three women we knew who had breast cancer prior to age 50 who would surely be dead had they not had a mammogram or self-exam to catch the cancer. I have to think this is the norm and all over the US this is true. I have no idea where the government gets their statistics but it greatly concerns me because they are way off base from reality.

By: PasserBy

PasserBy — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:28:08 +0000

Dismayed:

I did not indicate anywhere in my post that I think the Feds are planning to kill women. And, my comment about ‘locking women up’ was intended as a sarcastic attack against the healthcare debacle in DC; sorry if you missed that point. I would think its a ‘given’ that many/most health care services like mammograms are a cost/benefit analysis to the recipient.

Now, back to my point. If people can pay for care, they can have it. If the Gov’t is going to substitute its’ judgment across the board for everyone, as appears to be the case here (in the article), it seems to me this is a precursor of things to come in medical services and Gov’t oversight of the same.

By: Dismayed

Dismayed — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:18:20 +0000

If you read up on this issue, you’ll find that a significant part of the problem is that mammograms tend to catch tumors that are basically not very dangerous. Those that are most dangerous are faster growing, and even annual mammograms tend not to catch them in their early stages. Like most medical science, this is a a judgment call balancing risks and benefits, using the data available. It happens all the time, folks, this is how medicine works. However, I realize that it is more fun to think of this as a government plot to kill women, so please do continue to fantasize about women in jail because they didn’t get a mammogram, or did.

By: Dusk Mccoy

Dusk Mccoy — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:40:03 +0000

The USPSTF did not include include any oncologists.

Conspicuous, indeed!

By: PasserBy

PasserBy — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:15:35 +0000

FITS:

I think a link to Mande’s breast cancer “article” would be nice to put in this story.

As to the article itself; let me guess: under BO’s health plan, if a woman over 50 does NOT get a mammogram as often as recommended (yearly?), then we can put her in jail. Which is where are the non-paying health care dodgers are going under the plan. I think every federal prison should just put a full service hospital right next door, ’cause we’ll be needing them.

By: No Way!

No Way! — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:18:34 +0000

Just a taste of the new Obamacare! Just wait, this is only the tip of the iceberg!

By: Ynot

Ynot — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:31:33 +0000

radiating normal breast tissue adds to risk, increases the size of the doctor’s back pocket and that’s about all.
Mammograms should be reserved for ladies with complaints, family histories and problems.
Unfortunately, someone decided a long time ago that it is more profitable to waste resources on normal people than to treat the sick.
Why not do heart caths every year?
Colonscopies are already in vogue.
How many problems are found in normal people?
How much money is being made ( and wasted ) on normal people in lieu of treating the sick?
answer: Way Too Much.