I very much appreciate it. Thank you.
You got to the core of it: Who are the experts and where is the data coming from?
As Jennie mentioned earlier, the experts making guidelines for breast cancer—and also, as we've heard, for postpartum depression, prostate cancer, lung cancer and cervical cancer—are family doctors. There is a gastroenterologist. There are nurse practitioners, and there's an ER doctor. These are not subject matter experts. We always hear from them that they're experts in methodology, but they have no understanding of the information, of the evidence or of the data they're getting because it is not their area of practice. We wouldn't allow someone to practice outside their area, yet here we are with a task force made up of folks who aren't in their area of practice.
I think it's a breach of the public's trust when they are getting information they believe.... If you asked any Canadian who is making the breast screening guidelines, I'm sure they would say that it was an oncologist, a radiologist or someone who knows cancer. It is none of those people.
These are very astute questions to ask. Who is providing this information and where is it coming from? We've heard about 60-year-old studies and have heard about flawed, corrupted studies. This is the data being used.