Dear Editor:
I reference an Nov. 11 article by Ben Shapiro headlined "The Death Panels Are Coming". (http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2014/11/11/death-panels-coming/ ).
Some quotes from this article: "The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is an independent body authorized by Congress to make "evidence-based recommendations about clinical preventive services such as screenings, counseling services, or preventive medications."
"In November 2009, the Task Force recommended that mammography for women every other year between the ages of 50 and 74." "The Mayo Clinic, by contrast, recommends annual mammograms for women above age 40; so too does the American Cancer Society. As Dr. Sandhya Pruthi of the Mayo Clinic writes, "Findings from a large study in Sweden of women in their 40s who underwent screening mammograms showed a decrease in breast cancer deaths by 29 percent."
"The Task Force recommends against routine colonoscopies for adults 76 to 85 years of age, and recommends against screening at all beyond age 85." "The American Cancer Society and American College of Gastroenterology, by contrast, do not give an age limit for colonoscopies.
"The USPSTF completely recommends against prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for prostate cancer." " The Mayo Clinic recommends "offering PSA screening and DRE annually to men ages 50 to 75 with a life expectancy greater than 10 years."
Anytime a government bureaucracy thinks they know more than our best medical organizations its time to put them out of business. We can only hope the newly elected Republican legislature will have the courage through the power of the purse or legislation to stop any and all attempts to put regulatory limits on medical care. They should at least stop any curbs on tests or treatments other than that as recommended or sanctioned by organizations like the American Cancer Society and/or the Mayo Clinic.
If they don't stop this most atrocious part of Obamacare, death panels will become the most convenient and incrementally obscure way to keep the cost of Obamacare under control. Reducing the age limit on any screening by one one year would be easier for bureaucrats than politicians increasing taxes by 1 percent. Hillary Clinton's line about Bengazi; "What difference does it make?" tells all how bureaucrat's truly feel about protecting American lives.
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