U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is to be commended for publicly stating the government panel opposing mammograms is "an outside independent panel of doctors and scientists who ... do not set federal policy and ... don't determine what services are covered by the federal government."
ZERO - The Project to End Prostate Cancer has long criticized this panel, known as the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), for being out of touch due to its steadfast opposition to recognize the need for prostate cancer early detection as an important men's health issue.
Now, this panel is criticizing the need for mammograms.
Based on its advisory opinions on both breast cancer and prostate cancer, USPSTF has created much confusion among millions of women and men who are now being told that preventive health measures should not be followed as a means to detect cancer.
"Prostate cancer is essentially 'the forgotten illness' as far as this outside government panel is concerned," said ZERO's CEO Quentin "Skip" Lockwood.
"We're pleased the Secretary is speaking up in defense of a woman's right to continue receiving mammograms to protect her health," he said.
"We now call upon the Secretary to address the importance of prostate cancer early detection for men as well, since USPSTF has turned its back on this issue."
Advocates for mammograms and prostate cancer testing also question the membership of the USPSTF panel due to the glaring omission of medical specialists relating to women's and men's health in the fields of radiology, oncology and urology, for example.