Reply #6: When did you hear that on NPR? [View All]

[Crabitha]

The mammograms are uncomfortable for some women. They also show false positives on occasion which may lead to a biopsy that *may* in some way disfigure ones' breast.

My sister-in-law was just diagnosed with breast cancer three weeks ago. She had two years of mammograms that showed something before they finally decided to do a biopsy that showed she had cancer. They had her coming in every six months so that was four exams that showed a "shadow". Finally when the shadow appeared larger they did the biopsy.

But I know someone else who had one exam that had a shadow on it and she asked her doctor to do a biopsy which they did and it was nothing serious.

It should be a woman's choice after talking with her physician. My concern is that the panel doesn't have a single oncologist on it but has 3 health insurance company representatives on it. I'm sure the next step will be that the insurance companies will quit paying for yearly mammograms.