Connecticut's Breast Density Insurance and Notification Legislation births the Advocacy Movement
(insurance effective Oct. 1, 2005 & notification effective October 1, 2009)
Dr. Nancy Cappello's advanced stage breast cancer diagnosis in 2004 after a decade of 'normal' mammograms, and her shocking revelation of the scientific research for decades of the risks and screening challenges of dense breast tissue, started her quest to ensure that ALL women are informed of their dense breast tissue at the time of their mammography report.
In 2005, the Connecticut Legislature passed insurance coverage for whole breast ultrasound screening as an adjunct to mammography for women with dense breast tissue. Even with a legislative mandate, doctors were refusing to prescribe an ultrasound - and even with a prescription - most CT imaging facilities refused to perform whole breast ultrasound screening.
Refusing to concede to an 'empty' legislative mandate and, in light of study after study concluding that breast density is a risk factor and the strongest predictor of the failure of mammmography to detect cancer, Dr. Cappello went back to the legislature and worked for three years to standardize the communication of breast density to CT women. The Breast Density Notification bill passed the legislature in 2009 and became law on October 1, 2009. Press Release Here.
Reporter Shelly Sindland attended the Capitol Press Conference and reports on the bill's impact for the early detection of breast cancer. View Short Video of the FIRST Breast Density Law in Connecticut.
More of Dr. Cappello's story here.
