HHS Secretary Sebelius says women under 50 should keep having mammograms despite panel’s advice.

[DearAbby]

Washington (CNN) -- A federal advisory board's recommendation that women in their 40s should avoid routine mammograms is not government policy and has caused "a great deal of confusion," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday.

"My message to women is simple. Mammograms have always been an important life-saving tool in the fight against breast cancer, and they still are today," Sebelius said in a statement.

"Keep doing what you have been doing for years -- talk to your doctor about your individual history, ask questions and make the decision that is right for you."

Sebelius waded into the controversy over Monday's announcement by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that women in their 40s should not get routine mammograms for early detection of breast cancer.

Though insurance companies look to that panel for guidance on which preventive care practices they should cover, Sebelius said the doctors and scientists on the task force "do not set federal policy and they don't determine what services are covered by the federal government."

more:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/11/18/mammogram.guidelines/index.html

[Lance_Boyle]

1. Why does Sebelius hate science?

This person was a poor choice for Sec. HHS, and this knee-jerk anti-science bumblefuck statement pretty much demonstrates why.

[Demit]

2. For heaven's sake, it was a mild statement. She said women should talk to their doctors and keeping

in mind their personal histories, make their own decisions. She's not telling people to ignore the science. She's saying ask the doctor questions and make the decision that is right for you.

[Lance_Boyle]

3. She out and out said "that there science report ain't our policy."

This is politics taking a big stinking shit on science, and that shit is Kathleen Sebelius.

[951-Riverside]

4. But since Americans are being forced to get insurance

Costs for the insurance companies are going to rise so they need ways to mitigate those costs. The first way is by telling women not to get breast cancer screenings until they're 50 so if they have cancer they'll be dead by 43-45 thus saving the insurance companies billions of dollars.

Ah life is wonderful.

[WeDidIt]

5. I hope a criminal investigation ensues

My bet is some members of that committee took graft from insurance companies because the new recommendations would save the insurance companies over a billion dollars per year.

[samrock]

6. Good for her!!

..