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Government changes mammogram recommendations

(NBC) – The government is changing its recommendation when it comes to who needs to get mammograms and when.

The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force now says women how are not high risk for breast cancer can wait until they’re 50 to be screened. Then they only need to be screened every other year.

Computer models convinced the government experts to change their advice. Those models show getting mammograms too soon may cause more harm than good.

"That is, the likelihood of having a false positive test with all the attendant anxiety, the additional imaging tests, perhaps even leading to biopsy that may have been unnecessary," said Dr. Diana Petitti of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

However, some major medical groups think the government’s making a big mistake. They still recommend mammograms under 50 years of age and worry this new advice may confuse patients.

"The worst outcome for this study would be for women to throw up their arms and say, 'well, I’m not going to get screened at all,'" said the American Cancer Society’s Len Lichtenfeld.

They argue the government puts more emphasis on computer models than real patients.

"We're not satisfied at this point that the approach that they used is sufficient and adequate to discard a proven way of saving lives from breast cancer," Lichtenfeld said.

Now, it is unclear if insurance will pay for mammograms for those under 50 because of the new recommendations.

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