Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Mundy: Comparing Screening of Breasts and Shoes

Lee Mundy asks the following very perceptive question in this LTE in the December 7, 2009 Wall Street Journal:
Compare Screening Of Breasts and Shoes

The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force feels that mammograms are a waste of time and money because of false-positive exams, and anyway, the risk is evaluated at a meager 0.05% (Letters, Dec. 2). If, indeed, mammograms for women under 50 are not cost effective, and only save a few lives, then why are we taking our shoes off at every airport in the country?

Lee Mundy
Ellensburg, Wash.