Today Liz Lauber rejects a recent government study conducted by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) that recommends women wait until the age of 50 to begin regular mammograms.  The new study says most women don't need mammograms in their 40s and should get one every two years starting at 50 — a direct contradiction of the American Cancer Society's long-standing position.

“It is a tragic fact that women under the age of 50 die of breast cancer,” Lauber said. “Preventative care combined with a healthy lifestyle contributes to a long and healthy life,” Lauber continued. “The study should be resoundingly rejected by Congress and must not be included in the current health care debate.”

The USPSTF is a 13-member panel of experts funded and appointed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The panel was first convened by the U.S. Public Health Service in 1984, and since 1998, it is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), an independent panel of private-sector experts in prevention and primary care.

“I am confident the 17 Republican women members of U.S. House of Representatives are not going to stand-by and allow this panel of independent experts to influence the future of health care coverage and women’s access to clinical preventive care,” said Lauber.  “It is amazing that anyone would for a nanosecond consider that it makes sense for a Washington bureaucrat to encourage women to play a dangerous waiting game with breast cancer.” 

The study, which is considered by some the "gold standard" for clinical preventive services that helps shape how doctors practice, says women before the age of 50 should simply talk to their doctors about the benefits and risks. The group also says there's no benefit to performing breast self-exams.

An estimated 64% of 40-something women have had a mammogram in the past two years, along with 72% of women ages 50 to 65, according to the recommendations in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in American women. More than 192,000 new cases and 40,000 deaths from the disease are expected in the U.S. this year.

“Knowledge is power,” Lauber said. “When a cancer is detected early, survival is more likely,” Lauber continued. “Counseling women to abandon this preventative measure is turning back the clock on medicine and the importance of women’s health in our society.”

“Together the women in the “Show Me” State will help shape sound legislative policies in Washington,” Lauber concluded.