What is the value of a woman’s life?

By J. Patrick Bertroche , D.O.

When the US Preventive Services Task Force, released the new breast screening recommendations yesterday, it ignited a firestorm of debate within the medical community and the nation. To recap what the recommendations are, I will briefly go through them. No mammograms for those over 74, no routine screening for women under 50 years of age, don’t do regular breast self exams, and pushes back recommended screenings from every year, to every two years. The USPSTF cited a lack of evidence as the reasons for the new recommendations. Keep in mind that this very same government organization found sufficient evidence for the recommendations it now does not recommend a short seven years ago.

As a side note, just not a week ago, the government agencies responsible for tracking and warning about H1N1 admitted they “may have inflated” the numbers for H1N1 in the “interest of national health”.

What’s left out of the debate, is the role of government, and how that will change with Obamacare. Right now, the different groups involved with breast cancer, such as doctors, the American Cancer Society, and the American College of Radiology, are all discussing the merits, or demerits, of the latest government guidelines. Does it strike anyone else funny that the USPSTF is REVERSING itself in the midst of the worst economic meltdowns in recent history? If they issue guidelines that ration care, which is what they are doing, then it saves money on Medicare costs. Conspiracy? The USPSTF is funded from Oregon.

But the scariest thing about the guidelines is that it points out the glaring problems with a “best practices panel”, which both the House and Senate bills contain. 7 years ago, there was sufficient evidence for breast self exams, annual mammograms for EVERYONE, and routine yearly screenings starting at 40. What happened in the meantime? Did they have studies that showed these procedures weren’t helpful? Or did they have studies that showed there was something better?

Nope. The authors of the guidelines admit that there aren’t any studies that support the new guidelines, and in fact says there aren’t enough studies for the recommendations, and call for studies to study the recommendations. Sheesh. So if there aren’t adequate studies, upon what are they basing their recommendations? Britain. Just like I’ve said before. Pres. Obama is setting up a system exactly like the British. How has that worked for Britain? Breast cancer survival rate is 69%. In the US, it is 84%. Why is there a difference? According to a study in the 2008 Lancet Oncologist, it is due to Britain’s “best practices panel” recommendations that mirror almost exactly the latest USPSTF recommendations. And those recommendations boil down to delays in diagnosis, delays in treatment, and limited access to quality treatments.

If the Government has a “best practices panel”, they would have to change the way women receive breast care. And the USPSTF study isn’t even proven. It’s just a recommendation. Medical recommendations change rapidly. Can you imagine the chaos surrounding this subject if the Government had to decide what to do now? Well, I know. They would ration care, because that’s what they do. Why do you think we have four (4) Medicare supplemental programs? Is it because the Government isn’t rationing care? Or because they are?

And, more importantly, who should decide what a woman's life is worth? Who should decide how often you need to be screened for breast cancer? You and your doctor? Or a panel of government bureaucrats and their lackeys?

And for the best part. As we speak, James Sokolove and his ilk are firing up the copiers to file suit against every doctor, x-ray manufacturer, and hospital who ever did mammograms. Pres. Obama has plenty of reform for doctors and hospitals, who actually try to help people, but no reform for lawyers, who only want to line their pockets with other people’s grief and greed, driving up everyone’s cost for health care.

I’ve had enough. Haven’t you?


Pat Bertroche, D.O.
YOUR Congressional Candidate