On Wed, 15 May 2013 21:32:01 -0700, J wrote:
>
>
> NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) – Angelina Jolie says that she has had a
> preventative double mastectomy after learning she carried a gene that
> made it extremely likely she would get breast cancer.
>
> As CBS 2’s Dana Tyler reported, Jolie said the decision was not easy,
> but she is happy she made it.
>
> The Oscar-winning actress and partner to Brad Pitt made the
> announcement in the form of an op-ed she authored for Tuesday’s New
> York Times under the headline, “My Medical Choice.”
>
I applaud her decision, and her willingness to be so open about. For
better or worse, celebrity endorsements have a HUGE effect on how people
think about things, especially young women. For a well known actress, for
whom "sex appeal" is a big part of her image, to voluntarily undergo
prophylactic mastectomy, and be willing to publicize it, is going to save
a lot of lives in the years ahead, including, possibly, her own.
Hopefully, it will also draw more attention to the continuing
embarrassment that is the US health care system. A few years ago, most
insurance companies wouldn't cover breast reconstruction, as it was
considered "cosmetic". After all, the reconstructed breast can't make
milk; it's just for show. Eventually, a federal law was passed requiring
that breast reconstruction following mastectomy for breast cancer must be
a covered service. I don't know if it is a mandate that reconstruction
must be covered following prophylactic mastectomy, as there is, by
definition, no breast cancer present. Angelina can pay for breast
reconstruction with the change she finds between her sofa cushions. 99.9%
of other women are not so lucky.
Just one more case of intrusive government messing up people's lives by
forcing private industry to pay attention to something besides making as
much money as possible.