It’s health care, not Russian roulette

In 1992, at the end of my second term in the Senate, I was approached by several courageous women from Long Island. They sat me down in my Senate conference room and brought to my attention that Long Island was producing higher-than-average rates of breast cancer.

While each woman had a different theory on why these clusters existed, they were unified in their support for a cure. They convinced me of the need to find government-funded alternative research grants to supplement studies conducted by the National Institutes of Health.

My staff worked diligently and found that the best source of funding was the U.S. Army’s research program. At the time, the program was woefully underfunded. I negotiated relentlessly and was finally able to work out a deal with Senate allies from Alaska and Hawaii. I’m proud to say that one of my greatest achievements in the Senate was Congress’s allocation of $30 million to government-sponsored research to address the causes of breast cancer on Long Island, and a total of close to $1 billion for research.

In 1998 we passed Janet’s Law, named after Janet Franquet, a Long Island woman who was denied reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy. Janet’s Law forces insurance companies to pay for reconstructive surgery for breast cancer.

Today the Army’s peer review program is in full swing, and provides critical research throughout the U.S. But research is only one part of finding a cure. Prevention, self-exams, mammograms and doctor visits remain the critical components. That’s why I was outraged when I read the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations that women should not get mammograms before age 50.

It appears that this panel is against preventive health care and early diagnosis.

Sadly, I’m not surprised by its dreadful suggestions. Looking at the members’ credentials, I saw many professors, deans, epidemiologists and pediatricians, but no oncologists, pathologists or breast cancer specialists. Women are becoming more anxious and confused about getting mammograms, and these recommendations could put lives at risk.