Breast Cancer Bill in Congress
Lifetime TV Petition Collects Signatures for Patient Protection Act
Lifetime Television, the woman's cable television network, has joined an initiative to pass a bill in Congress titled "The Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act."
Lifetime Television, the woman's cable television network, has joined an initiative to pass a bill in Congress titled "The Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act". In their "Stop Breast Cancer for Life" campaign, Lifetime TV executives have gathered 12 million signatures in support of the act and an additional 5 million signatures in support of the bill. People who support the bill need only provide their name and zip code, adding an electronic signature to the petition.
This is not the first time the the bill has been introduced given its history of languishing in front of the male-dominated Congress. The Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2007 was reintroduced into Congress in 2007. The Act was reintroduced to Congress by U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Congresswoman Rosa L DeLauro (D-CT).
The campaign calls for Congress to sign a bill to put an end of the practice of sending mastectomy patients home just hours after surgery. The practice of out-patient mastectomy procedures is called "drive-through mastectomy."
The Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act would end the practice of "drive through" mastectomies. The Breast Cancer Protection Act would ensure that insurance companies would pay for a minimum hospital stay of 48 hours to any woman after a mastectomy. The act does not require a 48-hour hospital stay if the doctor does not recommend it. Nor does the act set 48 hours as a maximum stay. The Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act has 19 cosponsors in the U.S. Senate and 85 cosponsors in the U.S. House in the 190th Congress.
Legislation to ban "drive-through" mastectomies is supported by The American Medical Association, American College of Surgeons, Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, breastcancer.org, Families USA, Society for Womens Health Research, Oncology Nursing Society, the Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundations.
The practice of drive-through mastectomies is a result of insurance companies making important medical decisions about patient care. Clerks with no medical experience decide what procedures are paid for by insurance, following insurance company dictates.
One out of every eight women in the United States will develop breast cancer in her lifetime according to statistics from The American Cancer Society. After lung cancer, breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in women. The American Cancer Society estimates that about 3 million women in the United States currently have breast cancer. Of these, 2.3 million have been diagnosed.
Once a breast cancer diagnosis is made, the medical team considers the size of the tumor and the likelihood of the tumor spreading to surrounding tissues. Breast cancer operations include: lumpectomy, partial or segmental mastectomy, simple mastectomy, modified radical mastectomy or radical mastectomy. Radical mastectomy, which is the most severe of the surgeries, is rarely practiced anymore, according to the Mayo Clinic website.
The Lifetime TV website to sign the petition in support of the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act is:
http://www.lifetimetv.com/breastcancer/petition/signpetition.php
