April 11, 2017
Governor Matt Bevin of Kentucky signed HB78 into law today, making Kentucky the 30th state to report dense breast tissue to the patient through the mammography report.
Representative Jim DuPlessis who led the efforts in the House for the past two sessions reports, "I am honored to support legislation which gives Kentucky women potentially life saving information about their own breast health. Knowledge is power and knowing ones own risk factors is the ultimate power in keeping yourself healthy. This bill will not only inform patients, it will enhance dialogue with their health care providers about their screening options that best fit their needs."
Representative DuPlessis reports that the law is effective in early July, 2017.
This is the second bill that was signed into law this session as Colorado became the 29th state with a density reporting law on April 6th. Iowa is awaiting Governor's action and Nebraska has one more step before heading to the Governor.
Connecticut was the first state to enact a density reporting law in 2009, inspired by Nancy M. Cappello, Ph.D., after her advanced stage 3c breast cancer, metastasized to 13 lymph nodes, was discovered within weeks of her 11th normal mammogram. It was at this time that the impact of her dense breast tissue and its challenges to detect cancer by mammogram alone was revealed to her by her team of doctors.
Dr. Cappello is the founder and director of two breast health non profit organizations, Are You Dense Inc. and Are You Dense Advocacy, Inc.
Thirty Density Reporting States:
Connecticut (2009), Texas (2011), Virginia, New York, California (2012), Tennessee, Hawaii, Maryland, Alabama, Nevada, Oregon, North Carolina, Pennsylvania (2013), Ohio, Missouri, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Arizona, New Jersey (2014) Louisiana, Delaware, North Dakota, Michigan (2015), Indiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Vermont (2016) Colorado, Kentucky (2017)
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