Whitman Camp Plays the Misogyny Card - Mammogram Debate Redux
Estrich discussed the component of the plan that had dealt with mammograms. “Can we get off of mammograms?” Brown interjected. “I mean, first of all, if you read the Lancet Magazine in July, there’s no statistical evidence that mammograms help anyone at any age. “So it’s July 1995, Lancet Magazine. Okay? It’s there. Now I don’t want to argue that case,” he added, as Estrich started to object. “ I just want to throw it out there.”
Former Delaware Gov. Pete du Pont interrupted, “But you ought to have the option — if you think they’re going to help you, if you think they’re going to help you, you ought to have the option of having one.”
Brown replied, “Ten thousand women, three women will be saved for one year.”
The abstract from the Lancet Magazine article Brown mentioned discussed a study questioning the efficacy of mammograms, mostly in the context of a push for public funding.
Mammograms have been a standard method of screening for breast cancer for about 30 years. Last year, the Obama administration released suggested new guidelines, saying women in their 40s don’t need to get mammograms routinely, and that they’re more effective after age 50. A major national debate ensued, and the discussion was tabled, although not resolved.