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McDougall Comments on Mammography on the Huffington Post

ACS Chief Sends Mixed Messages on Mammography
John McDougall, MD
Posted December 7, 2009

Dr. Otis Brawley, Chief Medical Officer of the American Cancer Society, voiced strong support for annual mammography for women beginning at age 40 in an Op-Ed piece published November 20, 2009, in newspapers nationwide. This position is in sharp contrast to his statement about mammography made in the New York Times on Wednesday, October 21, 2009. On that day he told women "We don't want people to panic, but I'm admitting that American medicine has overpromised when it comes to screening. The advantages to screening have been exaggerated." Dr. Brawley has known about the questionable benefits of screening for more than a decade. Regarding mammography, his words in the August 2000 issue of Hematology/Oncology Clinics of North America were, "There has been considerable debate about the benefit:harm ratio of mammography screening for women below the age of 50 years, and about what proportion of the observed benefit arises from screening that occurs after these women have entered their 50s." The burden of proof of "the benefits outweighing the harms" rests with those making the recommendations--the American Cancer Society and its Chief Medical Officer in this case. Dr. Brawley has voiced doubt about the benefits of mammography, and now appears conflicted by communicating two opposing stands in less than a month. The American Cancer Society, on the other hand, has remained steadfast in a position that enhances the profits of breast cancer-related businesses, regardless of the effects on women.

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