NH Doctors Draws Ire for Comments About Mammography Overdiagnosis

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An Upper Valley doctor who claims his scientific research has led him to conclude that such diagnostic tools as mammographies lead to over diagnoses and unnecessary procedures. Given the highly sensitive and emotionally charged issue surrounding breast cancer, the reaction to Dr. Gil Welch’s conclusions was swift and vehement.
“This is simply malicious nonsense,” Dr. Daniel B. Kopans, a senior breast imager at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, told The Los Angeles Times. “It is time to stop blaming mammography screening for ‘over-diagnosis’ and ‘over-treatment’ in an effort to deny women access to screening.”
While his critics were the most vocal in their criticism, support for his minority opinion has been muted. This is clearly a difficult issue especially when it involves the lives of countless numbers of women. In the end, the most important goal should be saving lives and preventing breast cancer.

Eva Bleich
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