CURRENT MOON

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Cherche de l'argent

So, oddly, or, if you follow the money, perhaps NOT so oddly, just as insurance companies are about to be forced to cover female breast health, a new study is out suggesting that women really shouldn't be getting such frequent mammograms nor should doctors be teaching women to examine their own breasts for lumps. No study suggests -- because it would be a lie -- that early detection isn't the key to surviving breast cancer. Because, it is. Finding a cancerous lump early, getting it cut out of you, and getting early poisoning for any cells that may have split off from that lump and headed elsewhere in your body -- those steps are, as everyone admits, the complete key to living to see your grandchildren become teenagers as opposed to dying while your own children are too young to remember you.

But, you know, false positives -- the process and cost of checking out lumps that turn out to be benign -- are scary for women and, here's the important part, not cost effective for insurance companies. So, oddly, just now there's a study out saying that women should not be taught to examine their own breasts to see if the poisons in our air, water, earth, food, and life are giving the women cancer.

It's as Rep. Grayson said: Die quickly.

Me, I want to live to say "Namaste" to my Great Granddaughter. I'm going to keep doing BSEs and getting mammograms. Sorry, insurance companies.

3 comments:

Lyon said...

This new study makes me furious. And you're right - it has the stink of insurance companies trying to avoid paying all over it.

Lavanah said...

When we can consistantly sue (and win those suites!) against the insurance companies for lifesaving processes withheld, this will stop. Because, of couse, the "study group" does suggest that there might be some reasons that some women should get mammograms earlier than age 50. But family history is not a reason to have those mammograms-I have that on paper, in so many words from my health insurance company.

Medusa said...

Here's one way of looking at it: First they take away funding for abortion, then they change the recommendation for mammograms from yearly to biannually, both of which make it less expensive for insurance companies (who will use this as an excuse to only cover mammograms every other year). What is behind the this thinking that throws women under the bus? Maybe I'm paranoid, but I sniff a stinky trade.