Breast Cancer Health Center

Panel Blasts Mammogram Guidelines

USPSTF Says Its Message Could Have Been Better Communicated

Meanwhile at a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing in Washington today, Diana Petitti, MD, MPH, vice chair of the USPSTF, acknowledged that "the expertise of this panel has been called into question."

But, she adds, radiologists were "consulted and reviewed the recommendations and provided input." 

Petitti and another member of the Task Force told the hearing that their message could have been better communicated and that and it wasn't saying women under 50 shouldn't have mammograms.

The Task Force wanted to convey that women should still talk with their doctors and let young women know that for them, the risks of mammography may outweigh the benefits, Petitti said.