Latest news with #screening
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Kennedy's move to cancel preventive health panel meeting raises alarm
If you've ever been given a free or low-cost test for lung, breast, colon or cervical cancer which caught a tumor, it's likely due to a panel of 16 doctors and public health experts who reviewed the evidence and determined that a screening could save your life. That's why anxiety is growing after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abruptly postponed a meeting this week with the highly influential United States Preventive Services Task Force, a group of 16 independent volunteers that advise the agency about preventative health services and screenings, including mammograms, HIV prevention medications, recommending support for new moms to breastfeed and lifestyle interventions for heart disease. Health insurance plans are required to cover the task force's recommendations under the Affordable Care Act. The meeting, scheduled for July 10, was postponed without explanation. In an emailed statement, Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson, declined to say why the meeting was canceled or whether it would be rescheduled. He did not respond to a follow-up request for comment. An HHS notice sent Monday afternoon to task force members said the agency 'looks forward to engaging with the task force to promote the health and well-being of the American people,' according to two people familiar with the task force meeting. Task force members were not given a reason for the canceled meeting or whether it would be rescheduled, said the two people interviewed, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. Many task force members, however, fear Kennedy's move could signal that he's gearing up to fire them and install new members, as he did with a separate advisory committee, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the sources said. Last month, Kennedy fired all 17 members of ACIP — which makes recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccines, including for children — and replaced them with eight new members. The new panel includes well-known vaccine critics. 'If you look at how things played out with ACIP, this could be a warning signal,' one of the people said. The United States Preventive Services Task Force is a lesser known group that was first convened in 1984 during the Reagan administration. It includes physicians, nurses, pediatricians and public health experts. The task force plays an important role because the ACA , more commonly known as Obamacare, mandates that most private insurers provide the services that the group recommends to patients at no cost. The task force makes its recommendations using a grading scale. Under federal law, services that get an A or B grade but must be covered by insurance plans at no cost to patients. The advisory group has been subject to outrage for its past decisions, including from conservative groups over an 'A' recommendation to cover the HIV prevention pill, known as PrEP. Its controversial decision against routine blood test screening for prostate cancer in 2008 has been linked to rising rates of advanced cases of the disease. The task force currently advises against PSA-screening for older men, saying that men ages 55 to 69 should talk with their doctors about the benefits and harms. The group usually updates its recommendations every five years after reviewing the latest science on preventive care. For example, in 2021, the task force updated its guidance on heart attack prevention, saying most adults shouldn't take aspirin to prevent a first heart attack or stroke. Other recommendations from the task force include that all women begin breast cancer screening every other year starting at the age of 40, down from age 50. It also recommended that children and teens age 8 and up get screened for anxiety. Both have 'B' recommendations. The canceled meeting was set to discuss cardiovascular disease and prevention in adults and children, the people said. 'This institution proves vital,' said Arthur Caplan, the head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. 'The task force provides one of the few independent evidence-based assessments of what ought to be covered, especially in the area of prevention, which Kennedy has made a priority.' 'Postponing the meeting makes me very nervous,' Caplan added. As health secretary, Kennedy does have the authority to remove and appoint new members of the committee, said Jen Kates, senior vice president and director of the Global Health & HIV Policy Program at KFF, a health policy research group. That authority was actually a factor in the Supreme Court's decision last month to uphold the Affordable Care Act provision that requires insurers to cover certain preventive services for free. The court agreed with the Trump administration that the task force members were 'inferior officers,' Kates said, because their work was directed and supervised by Kennedy. 'The Supreme Court basically ruled that the [health] secretary has the power to appoint members and remove them at will,' Kates said. 'So it basically affirms the argument that the secretary has the ultimate authority over the panel.' It's unclear which areas of health care Kennedy might target by shaking up the panel. PrEP, the HIV prevention pill, is 'one to watch,' Kates said, because the Trump administration has already moved to restrict access to the medication in other countries. Caplan said Kennedy could direct the task force to look into topics he's interested in, such as nutrition or processed foods. Health groups immediately pushed back when news broke that Kennedy postponed the meeting. On Wednesday, a letter signed by more than 100 public health groups — including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics — urged U.S. lawmakers to 'defend the task force's integrity.' The letter was led by AcademyHealth, a group representing health researchers. This article was originally published on
Bloomberg
6 days ago
- Health
- Bloomberg
An HPV Test Women Can Wear at Home
Hi, it's Amber in Hong Kong, where less than half of eligible women get their recommended cervical cancer screening. If only the procedure was less unpleasant … As someone who has reported on cancer research for some years, I've long known that cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers, thanks to vaccination and early screening. Yet, I must confess I've never received a screening for HPV, the human papillomavirus that's the primary cause of cervical cancer. The thought of a Pap smear makes me squirm.
Medscape
7 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
Australia Launches Lung Cancer Screening Program for Smokers
Australia has launched a government-funded lung cancer screening program that provides biennial low-dose CT scans to patients who are either current heavy smokers or who have quit in the past decade. The screening program is a 'game-changer' for Australia, Lucy Morgan, MD, PhD, respiratory physician at Concord and Nepean Hospitals in Sydney, told Medscape Medical News. 'This [program] gives us the opportunity to offer cure to people who would otherwise develop Australia's most deadly cancer.' Morgan is also chair of the Lung Foundation Australia and a member of the screening program's expert advisory committee. Early Diagnosis Crucial Shalini Vinod, MD Lung cancer is the fifth most diagnosed cancer in Australia and the most common cause of cancer death, claiming around 9000 lives per year. Survival rates for lung cancer (around one quarter of those diagnosed survive for 5 years) are far below those of more common cancers, including breast cancer, which has a 5-year survival rate of above 90%, and colorectal cancer, which has a 5-year survival rate of above 70%. The reason for the low survival rate of lung cancer is that by the time it is symptomatic, it's often advanced, said Shalini Vinod, MD, radiation oncologist at the University of New South Wales Sydney. 'Approximately in half the cases that I pick up, the cancer has spread beyond the lungs and so is incurable,' said Vinod, who is on the expert advisory committee for the program. Lung cancers that are detected early, before they have spread, have a much better prognosis and better treatment options, Vinod said. The most common approach for early lung cancer is surgery to remove the tumour or radiotherapy. 'If they're 2 centimetres or less, they're eligible for minimally invasive surgery…where rather than taking a whole lobe of the lung out, you can just take a part of the lobe with equivalent outcomes,' she told Medscape Medical News . The program, which was launched on July 1, is recruiting smokers aged 50-70 years who currently smoke or have quit in the past 10 years and have a smoking history of at least 30 pack-years. Henry Marshall, MD, PhD Only a handful of countries worldwide, including the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Taiwan, and Canada, have national or regional lung cancer screening programs, which all vary slightly in the choice of screening interval, age range, and smoking history. For example, the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends yearly screening. The choice of 2-yearly screening was an effort to balance cost and benefit, said Henry Marshall, MD, PhD, a thoracic physician at the Prince Charles Hospital and University of Queensland Thoracic Research Centre in Brisbane. 'It's as effective in terms of its health benefit, but of course a lot cheaper because you're immediately halving the number of scans that you need to do,' said Marshall, who is also a member of the screening program expert advisory committee. Australia's Unique Challenges Australia faces unique challenges in implementing a national screening program like this one. The first is that lung cancer is the most diagnosed cancer and the most common cause of cancer death among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, with incidence and mortality rates around twice those of non-Aboriginal Australians. 'Some of it is about living in rural and remote Australia, some of it is about smoking rates, some of it is probably about genetic predisposition; we don't understand that completely,' said Morgan. 'And much of it is about access to health care.' To address this disparity, the program was developed in partnership with the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation sector and First Nations people to ensure that the design and implementation was community-led and culturally appropriate and that the information and education materials were tailored to the community. The program includes a mobile CT screening service to reach Australians in rural and remote areas because 'there are millions of Australians living more than four hours away from a CT scanner,' said Morgan. Five mobile screening trucks will be deployed around the country beginning in November this year. Participants must be initially referred for screening by their general practitioner (GP). If anything is detected on CT, they are then referred to another clinician according to a nodule management protocol that was developed specifically for the program. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has expressed concern about the potential increased workload for GPs, particularly those in areas of socioeconomic disadvantage, where greater numbers of patients are likely to have histories of heavy smoking and therefore be eligible for screening. The program will also lead to increased pressure on radiology and cardiothoracic surgery services in Australia, Vinod said, but another concern is whether smokers will actually sign up for the program. Uptake for breast cancer screening in Australia is around 50%, and uptake for bowel cancer screening is around 40%. 'If you just benchmark it against those, this is going to be tough because this is a cancer where there is a lot of stigma,' Vinod said.
ABC News
7 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
Tasmanian mobile breast cancer screening services halved after 30-year-old bus fails
Rachel has a family history of breast cancer, the most common cancer for Australian women. As a resident of the regional town of Coles Bay, on Tasmania's east coast, using services like the BreastScreen bus service is "very important" to her. "Because it will show the government that there is a need for these services in our area," she said. One of the two mobile BreastScreen Tasmania units, operated by the Department of Health, was pulled from service in April. The 32-year-old bus, dubbed 'Luna', sustained water damage that caused technical issues, leading to the cancellation of all future mobile appointments around the south and east coast until further notice. For Rachel, the news was "quite concerning". "If we miss this service, how many women are going to be missed? Last week, a government spokesperson said funding was committed for a replacement bus and that the "procurement process is underway". A tender was previously published online, inviting companies to bid for the right to supply the fully fitted-out replacement bus. The tender was withdrawn in February last year, 14 days into the 2024 state election campaign. That was almost 18 months ago and there hasn't been another tender published since. In April, the Department of Health said funding was committed to replace Luna and that the "project is ongoing". Last week, the department said that work was "underway to assess the viability of alternative arrangements moving forward — including how Ida [the other unit that operates in the north of the state] may be able to be redeployed". The department made changes to its website last week, removing multiple references to there being two breast screening buses. The department has been contacted for comment. Independent candidate for Clark, Kristie Johnston, said the department no longer intended to replace Luna due to budget constraints. "The actions of the government quite frankly are deceitful, they are not telling the truth when it comes to women's breast screening services across the state. "They cannot say that they are genuine in any effort to replace Luna as the breast screen bus if they're not going out to tender for it." She also criticised the changes made to the Department of Health website. "Breast screening is a lifesaving service, and when the government and the Health Department fail to provide this service, and are actively removing mentions of this service, then they are completely throwing women out at huge risk." Ms Johnston called on "whoever forms government next to be genuine and serious about women's health and preventative health and advertise within the first 100 days a tender for the replacement mobile breast screening service". Labor Leader Dean Winter said a replacement bus "needs to be a priority". "The tender needs to be let so we can support and provide more services to Tasmanian women," he said. On Wednesday, Tasmanian Liberal Leader Jeremy Rockliff said the replacement bus is, to his understanding, "on its way" as promised, but could not provide confirmation of its tendering or a timeframe for its delivery. Ms Johnston said that was "not good enough". "Early detection is critical. For the premier to dismiss the concerns of women in Tasmania as a bus will be coming sometime soon is simply irresponsible and quite frankly careless and heartless," she said. Kirsten Pilatti, chief executive of Breast Cancer Network Australia, said the health of Tasmanian women in regional and rural communities is not currently being prioritised. She said it's worrying a replacement bus has not been provided yet, as evidence shows "the further you live away from a major city, the worse your outcomes" when it comes to breast cancer. "What the Tasmanian women deserve is access to the very best screening programme in a timely manner to ensure that we can prioritise their health and catch breast cancer as early as possible. "The bus service has made a significant difference in the detection of early breast cancer right across the country. It's been really successful.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Former NFL Player Chris Scott Texted All His Friends About His Prostate Cancer Diagnosis, Inspired by His 'Prayer Warrior' Wife Debra
Chris Scott, a onetime player for the Indianapolis Colts, realized more people than he knew had also faced prostate cancer He wants to draw attention to the health issue to encourage others to get screened His wife Debra has helped him as a caregiver and "prayer warrior"When retired NFL player Chris Scott was diagnosed with prostate cancer, his wife called everyone they knew and asked them to start praying. "My wife, she's a prayer warrior," says Chris Scott, 63, of Berea, Ohio. "She called everybody." His wife's outreach inspired him to also start texting his own friends, and he was surprised to hear that many of them, too, had fought prostate cancer. Now Scott shares his story to encourage other men to talk about prostate cancer, and to encourage one another to be proactive in their health and get their PSA checked. Chris Scott was a defensive end who played at Purdue, before playing three seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. A knee injury forced him to retire. He and his now-wife Debra Scott, 61, a retired day care worker, met at Bible study; she was a 26-year-old single mom, and he was a 28-year-old single dad. They became very close friends. He opened her fridge one day and saw it was empty, so he went to the grocery store and fully stocked her refrigerator and freezer. When he noticed she was cold, he bought her a warm winter coat. 'Chris is a very generous man,' she says. 'Chris always has protected me, always. He has shielded me from so many things that I would've had to deal with myself, but I didn't have to. He's just really a good husband and a great father." He still puts gasoline in her car. The couple are very active in their church and constantly together. "People say it all the time. If I see Chris, I see Debra right behind him," she says. In 2019, Chris had a comprehensive health exam at the Cleveland Clinic via The Trust, a program for former professional football players which provides access to the the Cleveland Clinic's executive health program. Every five years, Chris spends three days and two nights having a series of health tests. He weighed 365 pounds and doctors told him he needed to lose weight. They were "very concerned" about high blood pressure and heart disease, Chris says. Three years later, in 2022, he ran into a friend he played high school football with. 'He was all lean and mean, I said, 'Man, what did you do?'' His friend shared the details of his keto diet, and so Chris and his wife Debra went on the keto diet together. 'I said, 'Okay, I'll do it with you,'' she says. 'We do everything together.' They cut down their sugar, and threw away the pasta in their pantry. When Chris Scott returned to the Cleveland Clinic in January 2024 for his scheduled testing, he had lost 50 pounds, which "made all of the difference as far as [my] health is concerned,' he says. Though most of hs numbers looked so much better, he recalled, they were concerned about Chris's PSA levels. They made a urologist appointment for him that week, where they did a biopsy. The next day, the doctor told him all 12 samples had cancer. 'It felt like a death sentence,' Chris says. Chris's father had died of prostate cancer. 'I was anxious and very nervous,' Debra says. 'I just saw death. I said, 'Oh he's dying. He's going to die.' " Urologist Dr. Urma Lengu assured Debra that wasn't going to happen. 'She was an amazing woman,' Debra says. 'She says 'Mrs. Scott, this is not a death sentence. It will be okay.'' When they left her office, Debra first called her older sister, whose husband survived prostate cancer, with the same treatment Chris' doctor was recommending, and who helped Debra think positively. Her sister "was that quiet person in the storm" Debra says. Then she called everyone else she knew and asked them to pray. 'It helped me,' Chris says — because after his wife told her friends, he started telling his. He texted his friends on his Purdue Football Player Alumni text chain, and other players reached out and told them they also had prostate cancer and they shared their stories and helped him make decisions and research his doctors. He had surgery to remove his prostate on April 11, 2024. 'I was on pins and needles the whole time,' Debra says. 'My faith is strong, but when you're not praying for another person, you're praying for your own life, it looks a little different.' Doctors determined his prostate cancer was Stage 3. After the surgery, he was in recovery. But then Debra received a text that he was moved to the ICU. Because of his sleep apnea, he was having trouble coming out of anesthesia. When she reached his hospital room he was gasping for air. "He got scared. So he panicked. When I got into the room, this big man of mine, this 6'5", over 200-lb. football player of mine is in tears and stretching his hand out for me saying, 'Please just come hug me and pray with me,' I lose it. ... [but] I had to stay really calm. By the time I left, he was relaxed.' The couple says they are 'thankful' and 'so grateful" for what has come since. 'He was able to just get the right timing for every doctor. Everything went the right way for us to be able him to come out cancer free,' Debra says. Chris now tells all the men in his life, including his 40-year-old son, to check their PSA levels. Even his own father didn't talk about his prostate cancer. Chris says he read about it on his father's death certificate. 'Men keep everything a secret," he says. "My dad never told us he had prostate cancer, he kept it to himself." Chris now tells all the men in his life, including his 40-year-old son, to check their PSA levels. 'When I started talking about my prostate cancer, it seemed like every man out of the woodwork started talking about it. I had to be the voice to say something.' Debra spent her career caring for others, but being her husband's caregiver was difficult. She took time off from her part-time job at the Hallmark store to care for her husband, and it was an adjustment for both of them. 'I knew that it would be a journey for the both of us because he resorts to [acting like a] small child and I had to actually just get over it,' Debra says. 'It stretched our marriage vows big time because he was just so irritable.' His pain made it difficult for him to receive her help. 'He was very uncomfortable, very not a happy person,' she remembers, but she reminded herself 'he's on the other side of this.' And while she did focus on her gratitude for his health, she had to ask him to be considerate of her feelings while he healed. 'I had to tell him, 'Listen, I know you're unhappy right now and I know you're not comfortable, but you have to be nicer to me and you have to speak to me with some level of intimacy or be empathetic towards me because I'm the only one here.' Debra worked in daycares for 28 years," so to her, "diapers are no big thing,' she says. But catheters, sometimes with blood in them, was different. 'That was the worst,' she says. 'It was gross. This is above diaper changing. This was just my husband in pain. If I would touch around the area where the catheter was at, he would just explode." When it was removed after a few weeks, "he was just a better guy,' she says. His appetite returned — she made him omelettes and Jell-O —and he was able to start walking. And his positive attitude returned too. 'He's not over here worrying about the next step. That's why our marriage is so good, because he's such a positive man," Debra says. "I mean, I would've been on the floor with all this, but he just constantly reassured me that every step was getting better.' His previous weight loss helped his recovery, he says: "It gave me that endurance." He was much better within two or three months. Now he's a certified personal trainer. He teaches seniors chair exercise classes at their church. His wife makes everyone lunch. They also run the non-profit Chris founded, Boys 2 Men, together, and finally took the road trip Debra dreamed of in now advocating for all his friends to get their PSA levels checked and try to catch prostate cancer as early as possible. 'He showed a lot of other men, it's okay to talk about your cancer,' Debra says. 'A lot of men suffer in silence and they don't have to,' Chris says. Read the original article on People
