News from Senator David Vitter

The following is an update letter from Senator David Vitter concerning legislation on annual mammograms:

This week I introduced  an amendment to the Senate  health care bill to prevent the
new United States Preventive Service Task Force recommendations  from restricting
yearly mammograms for women, and  I’m happy to report that the Senate has adopted my
amendment.

Many were worried when the USPSTF last month released a series of recommendations
that  stand in stark contrast to common-held cancer prevention practices.  They said
that women under the age of 50  should no longer get mammograms – a recommendation
which flies in the face of  everything that all women have been taught for decades.
And they advised against annual mammograms for those over  50.  

I  held a roundtable in  Louisiana on  this very topic last month and heard from a
number of survivors who credited  self-examinations and annual mammograms for the
early detection of their breast  cancer.  The bottom line is these new
recommendations could have a drastic and  negative impact on hundreds of thousands
of women,  and they should not be implemented.

My amendment was a  second degree amendment to U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s
amendment to the bill.  Her  provision and the discussed alternatives do not
directly address the November  recommendations of the USPSTF that caused the
uproar.  But my amendment will keep the current standing recommendations in  place
and set aside those issued in November.

I will be sure to keep you up to date on this and other  efforts to protect access
to mammograms and other preventative treatment.