Well, that was quick! The day after the revised mammography guidelines were released, someone was already screaming that the government is trying to ration our health care and that this is a view of what is to come if health care reform is passed.
A quick fact check reveals that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force was first convened in 1984 under President Reagan and published its first "Guide to Clinical Preventive Services" in 1989 during President Bush's administration. It is an independent panel of experts comprised of primary care physicians and nurses, not "the government." The 2009 release updates 2002 guidelines reflecting data from new studies.
The Web site states that "Recommendations made by USPSTF are independent of the U. S. government. They should not be construed as an official position of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services."
