Woman denied mammogram fights back and wins
Last Updated: Friday, November 13, 2009 | 4:54 PM ET
CBC News
A woman from Lumsden, central Newfoundland, who complained Tuesday that she was being denied a mammogram despite a strong family history of breast cancer, was told Friday that she will get the breast screening she wants.
"Relieved, very relieved," said Jeanie Stokes, 32. "[The Central Regional Health Authority] is reconsidering the fact that I got four relatives that's been diagnosed with breast cancer. I don't fall under guidelines and I will be considered for a mammogram."
Stokes had her first mammogram when she was 25. Her mother and two aunts have died of breast cancer, and she has a 50-year-old sister currently being treated for the disease.
Stokes was surprised when her request for another mammogram was denied. She said she was told she wasn't eligible and would have to wait eight years for screening.
She complained to her local member of the house of assembly and CBC News. Stokes said she received an apology from central health's director of diagnostic imaging Friday.
"I wasn't very impressed that I had to go through such lengths to get a test done that possibly in the long run could save my life. I wasn't impressed at all," said Stokes.
She said health officials advised her that having a mammogram every year could expose her to dangerous levels of carcinogenic radiation. They suggested getting magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) screening one year, and a mammogram the next.
In a written statement, sent to Stokes and CBC News, the central Newfoundland health authority said the province's breast cancer screening program is now developing new criteria for deciding who is eligible for mammography.
Mammography is currently offered to all women in the province between 50 and 69. Younger woman are offered a mammogram if other members of their family have been diagnosed with breast cancer.
