The FDA assaults breast thermography while protecting mammography industry

Monday, June 06, 2011 by: Len Saputo
Tags: breast thermography, FDA, health news

(NaturalNews) The FDA published an article in "Journal Watch" on June 3, 2011 is full of information that is presumptive and incorrect and they have to know it.

First of all, it slanders the breast thermography industry and the multitude of mainstream medical journal articles supporting its value. As a point of interest, the FDA approved breast thermography as an adjunct to mammography in 1982. You would think that there just might be a reason or two supporting its value that they appreciate but fail to mention.

What the FDA did not do is approve it in 2004 as a stand alone tool to screen for breast cancer. The vote in the final FDA committee was 5-4 against it. So, the vote was very close, meaning that at least four people on this committee felt breast thermography should be approved as a stand alone screening tool for breast cancer, and five were opposed. This shows that the FDA's comments in the Journal Watch article are completely misleading and incorrect when Helen Barr, MD, director of the Division of Mammography Quality and Radiation Programs in the FDA's center for Devices and Radiological Health states, "While there is plenty of evidence that mammography is effective in breast cancer detection, there is simply no evidence that thermography can take its place." Maybe, Dr. Barr, there is just a little!

There is an abundance of scientific evidence in the mainstream journals supporting that breast thermography as a superior tool to mammograms because it is more sensitive and makes fewer errors when used properly, particularly in women under the age of 50, where there's tremendous controversy about the validity of mammograms as a primary screening tool for breast cancer.

The final embarrassment for the FDA and Journal Watch, is that three of the five people voting against bringing breast thermography forward into clinical practice in that fatal meeting in 2004, had a serious conflict of interest connecting them to the mammography industry. Wow!

There are simply too many people who are informed about breast thermography's role in screening for breast cancer to continue concealing its value. I'll be a bit surprised if this response actually gets past the editors of Journal Watch and into print in their blog. Nonetheless I will be taking this message to an excellent Internet resource, NaturalNews.com, and the airwaves on my weekly show on the ProgressiveRadioNetwork.com.

About the author:
Len Saputo, MD is board certified in internal medicine and is in private practice focused on integrative, holistic, person-centered care at the Health Medicine Center (http://www.doctorsaputo.com/a/health-medicin...) in Walnut Creek, CA. Dr. Saputo is the founder of the Health Medicine Forum (http://www.doctorsaputo.com/a/health-medicin...) and the author, with Byron Belitsos, of the Nautilus Gold Award winning book, "A Return to Healing: Radical Health Care Reform and the Future of Medicine" (http://doctorsaputo.com/a/a-return-to-healin...). He and his wife, Vicki, have hosted KEST radio's "Prescriptions for Health" show that airs daily for more than a decade.

Dr. Saputo's highly interactive health and wellness website www.DoctorSaputo.com has more than 1500 audio and video media files that are organized and targeted to address your specific and unique health issues. Take the free Health and Wellness Assessment Survey on the home page and experience how his surveys on a wide range of health care conditions provide immediate personalized integrative suggestions for your health challenges!