While there is now some discussion as to the effectiveness of mammography, it has been proven that many lives have been saved by the procedure.

However, the ability to get a mammogram may be more difficult in the coming years.

Do you find that your area supports regular mammography? Does your doctor encourage them? Does your insurance company allow for them?

quote:

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Study: Lawsuits to make mammograms scarce
by MAGGIE FOX
Reuters News Service
WASHINGTON - Costs of doing mammograms could skyrocket in the next decade, with lawsuits totaling more than $250 million a year, and patients will pay the price, experts said today.

They said fears of being sued could drive radiologists into another line of specialty, and the result could be that it will be difficult for women to get mammograms.

"We are looking at a potential medical-legal meltdown," Dr. Richard Tello, a professor of radiology, epidemiology and biostatistics at Boston University, said.

Tello said he got the idea of doing his study while watching television.

"I was sitting at home with my daughter and we see a commercial from a small legal firm advertising services for women who been diagnosed with cancer and who might have had a previous mammogram that missed the diagnosis. It piqued my interest," he said in a telephone interview.

Speaking to a meeting in Atlanta of the American Roentgen Ray Society, Tello said he and colleagues worked up an analysis of what it would cost if lawsuits were filed against radiologists the way they are against, for instance, obstetricians, many of whom say their malpractice insurance can top $40,000 a year.

Tello's analysis was based on the number of women likely to undergo mammograms, the potential for missed cancers, the average lawsuit settlement -- $200,000 based on 1995 figures -- and other factors.

"Using 2000 census data, we predicted there will be 46 million women in the 45- to 70-year-old age bracket in 2010," Tello said. From that, he predicted 2 million women would get breast cancer at those ages.

Mammograms, meant to find breast tumors while they are small and still easy to treat, are far from perfect, Tello said. They are meant as a tool to prevent cancer deaths in an overall population, and having a mammogram does not guarantee a woman she will not get breast cancer.

However, he said, some lawyers see it differently.

"The litigation cost is going to move malpractice premiums to a point where people won't want to carry that burden," Tello said. "While mammogram services won't stop, they will be very tough to get."

His team's analysis found that a radiologist would have to set aside anywhere between $70 and $200 per mammogram to pay the cost of potential lawsuits.

"Insurance, if you are lucky, might give you $75 for doing a mammogram," Tello said.

Patients would have to pay the difference, he said, and some clinics would limit how many mammograms they do.

Mammograms have become controversial in the past year after studies were published suggesting they do not save any lives.

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department weighed in on the debate in February, saying the evidence clearly showed that women who start getting regular mammograms at 40 are less likely to die of breast cancer if they do develop a tumor.

One million women around the world get breast cancer every year. In the United States, 40,000 women will die of breast cancer this year, according to the American Cancer Society.

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We get free mammograms but only once you reach 50, unless there is good reason they are not encouraged when you are younger as it has been said that breasts on younger women are more dense therefore the results are less reliable. That is the official line. We are offered them every two years.

To be honest having had a couple I am not certain that they don't actually cause problems, it is said that cancers can start after a blow, so what about a crushing?

I have said it before and will continue to say it, I simply do not agree with the American practice of suing at the drop of a hat, it is counter productive as you are now stating Linda. I get the impression that medical staff in the States spend more time and effort avoiding law suits than anything else. This cannot be good. Medical staff ought to be able to get on with their work without constantly worrying that someone will be looking to sue them.

At what age do they advocate mammography in the States?

[ 04-29-2002, 03:38 PM: Message edited by: sue943 ]

I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think they are universally covered in the US. I think it depends on your insurance company, but studies keep changing between saying you should start at 40 and others that say they're not effective at all.