Cervical Cancer Prevention: Are You a Medical Consumer or a Medical Test Subject?
In September, the following headline appeared in the UK Daily Mail, “Grandmother, 55, died from cervical cancer after her GP dismissed her symptoms as the MENOPAUSE.” This woman knew something was wrong, visited her doctor multiple times, and had her symptoms blamed on age (menopause), instead of being run through normal diagnostic procedures which would have detected her cancer when it was still curable. What would have most likely prevented her untimely death? A reliable HPV detection method that included genotyping and regular Pap smears. However, policy makers at the NCI have not made these options readily available to medical consumers. Policy makers have left women with no choice but to educate themselves, demand the reliable test procedures they need and refuse those options which provide little benefit and substantial risk. Women must stop allowing themselves to be manipulated by the news media and industry-paid consultants, whether they are in the government or the academic world. You have a choice – medical consumer or medical subject?