Man unable to get breast cancer screen because he's a man

[davidn3600]

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and despite several organizations offering discounted or free mammograms, a local patient is having a hard time getting a mammogram because of his gender.

Donald Mudd said he's had a painful lump in his right breast over the last several weeks, and now the lump is the size of a golf ball. He went to see his physician who told him he had a mass in his breast and he needed to get a mammogram.

Since Mudd doesn't have insurance, he tried to get a mammogram at Fawcett Memorial Hospital, which advertises mammogram specials for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

"I got transferred a number of times with the same result... that males don't qualify for the mammogram cancer screening," Mudd said.

http://www.fox4now.com/news/local/Southwest-Florida-man-denied-mammogram-because-he-is-a-man-226976931.html

Although rare, men can get breast cancer. The CDC estimates each year over 400 American men will die from it.

The news station did finally find one organization that was willing to assist this guy.

[Warpy]

1. This is wrong no matter who they try to turn down.

[cui bono]

2. He should be able to get a mammogram.

Especially if he's got that big of a lump!

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. banghead

[seabeyond]

4. But he did/is getting one so title not really true. A problem? Yes. And a woman

Stepped up and worked with him getting him into a breast cancer screening program that does not charge insured. Maybe this will be an eye opener for others, but I am surprised right down to the doctor that did not step up and assign a screening with call or note.

[Sgent]

5. My experience is that a women would be denied too

most of the cancer screening programs out there don't do diagnostic testing -- which is what this is.

[seabeyond]

16. doesnt this sound odd. i agree. the test is more for detection. it has already been detected.

then, whenever my doctor has a concern that needs further evaluation of a more specialized doctor, he takes steps to send me to one.

[HappyMe]

18. The mammogram detects it, but also

at the same time shows where and how far the cancer has grown. Maybe that's what they want to see so they can proceed accordingly.

[seabeyond]

19. I really do not know much about this, but seems once detected there are other tests for that. Anyway

I know if I have to do something beyond my doctor, he makes sure I am set up. And honestly, we are aware and especially those in the field of the deadliness of male breast cancer. I cannot imagine this man rejected cause male. But... As I said initially, he did get it. And I am hesitant to believe at face value.

[Sgent]

37. A mammogram

is still the first used diagnostic tool in a lot of situations.

That said, there are two types of mammograms -- to the patient they probably appear the same, but they have very different needs in terms of radiologist analysis, liability, etc.

[Sheldon Cooper]

6. How would a mammogram work on him?

There needs to be some tissue to put between the plates to squeeze down on. It doesn't look like he's got any.

[datasuspect]

7. except for a golfball sized lump in his tit.

[Eleanors38]

8. The fatality rates for men aee very high because of lack of tissue.

Perhaps because there is so little "shielding" effect.

[Sheldon Cooper]

10. I wonder why it wouldn't be treated like a lump discovered anywhere else on the body.

If it's big enough to be felt, they could surely do a needle biopsy or an MRI or CT scan or something.

[Eleanors38]

11. Since men do have rudimentary breasts, and mammograms are non-invasive, the 'gram seems preferrable.

[Sheldon Cooper]

12. Which sounds fine, but look at this picture and then tell me what tissue is going to be compressed

between the plates:



If the lump is as big as a golf ball, why not just do a needle biopsy?

[Eleanors38]

14. Don't know. Not sure how it's done with small-breasted women, either.

[sammytko]

15. Yep, would never get that thing in there

This story first appeared in the Daily Mail. My favorite sleazy tabloid.

Haven't there been studies done that say mammograms aren't that great anyway?

[Jamastiene]

28. Too bad he doesn't have time

to eat at Subway every day for a while (like I did while I was in college, not like Jared did) and gain enough weight to get some moobs. There must be something they can do for the guy to check it out. What do they do for women with small breasts?

I see what you mean about the biopsy. He already knows he has a lump, so a biopsy would make more sense. Still, they shouldn't turn men away from screening for breast cancer. Maybe a different method needs to be created to detect it in men.

[HappyMe]

13. What do they do for women with

smaller breasts?

[MADem]

27. They have new diagnostic methodologies that don't do that, apparently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breast_cancer_screening#Molecular_breast_imaging

[Behind the Aegis]

30. I can proudly say, my youngest brother is one of the ones working on this.

He and his group are working to perfect it and expand its use!

[MADem]

34. That IS something to be proud about!

How cool that he's helping humankind in that fashion--good for him!

[RandiFan1290]

9. I hear that churches are more than happy to pay our medical bills

We need to start sending our bills to the publicons favorite churches and lining up to get the medical care they promise.

[Barack_America]

17. Ridiculous. If a physician feels a mass, it is their responsibility to biopsy it.

Or to send them to someone who can.

I have seen metastatic breast cancer in a man and the scenario was very similar to this.

[Nay]

23. Exactly. Mammogram unnecessary. Biopsy is the diagnostic tool for

palpable mass.

[Nay]

20. May I weigh in? I have breast cancer, and I have a male friend who also

has breast cancer. When he found a lump in his chest tissue, he was immediately seen by the org that gave his wife her yearly mammograms. No one at that female-centered place even batted an eye -- he got in immediately. They scheduled him for a biopsy the very next day -- no need for a mammogram, the lump was palpable and visible.

I assume it was similar for this guy. Mammograms are for screening for suspicious lumps, they are not diagnostic. Sure, some lumps look more 'cancerous' than others in a mammogram, but if you have a visible/palpable lump, you go straight to biopsy.

Now, it would have been nice if the screening place told this poor man that he needed to get a biopsy, not a mammogram, but I can only attribute that to the ignorance of the clerks he talked to. I hope the clerks at least told him to go see his doc right away. I hope they at least explained to him that mammograms require enough chest flesh to squish between two plates -- men generally do not have enough of this flesh for a mammo to be used.

Another question is why this man just didn't go straight to his family doc, who would have gotten him a biopsy the next day. Male breast cancer is pretty rare, but it's certainly not unknown. His doc would certainly be aware enough to order a test.

I also notice this is on Fox News, which of course did not explain any of this. A short investigation would have revealed my points above, but then Fox wouldn't have had its little fit over men being treated badly because they are men. It's also possible that part of this story has been left out for more shock value. I would be surprised if the clerks at the hospital failed to tell this guy to go see his doctor immediately.

[seabeyond]

21. actually, the mans doctor is the one who initially found it and sent him on his merry way to deal

with it. which is the first red flag to me.

thank you for explaining this. upthread, i questioned this, but i have very limited information. you clear a lot of it up.

[Nay]

22. Oh, your comment reminded me of what my friend said; when he first

noticed the lump (it was painful and you could also see it), he went to the emergency room. The emergency room doc said he did not think it was cancer, but that he should probably (!!) see his GP about it. When my friend told his wife what the doc said, she said OH HELL NO, we're gonna get you in TODAY at the place where I get my mammos. And that's what they did.

So, even an emergency room doc (male) was off-base.

[seabeyond]

24. interesting. thanks. nt

[HappyMe]

25. Thanks for your posts.

They kind of make the point that not all doctors or testing facilites are thorough or forthcoming with info for the patient.

[Nay]

29. Yes, that's true. And in the case of the FL man, if he'd just gone to his

regular doc, he probably would have gotten the help he needed. I see that he has no insurance, and I'm sure that figured into his attempt to get a free mammogram, but....if you think you have breast cancer, you need to kinda forget about the financing and get yourself seen by a physician. I just think the poor guy didn't realize how mammos are done and what they are for (NOT diagnostic) and tried to do the cheap thing first.

I also suspect that if that hospital was giving free mammos, they had a staff of clerks (not nurses) scheduling them. A clerk, who'd be much less knowledgeable than a nurse, might think this guy was playing a prank or being an asshole.

[HappyMe]

31. I'm sure the guy was scared out of his mind,

that doesn't lead you to make great decisions or ask the right questions. Some people are good dealing with stuff, others aren't.

Maybe they did think the guy was just being an asshole. In the end, he got what he needed.

[Jamastiene]

26. That's just wrong.

A free screening should mean a free screening for the breast cancer, regardless of a person's gender. Men can get breast cancer too.

[jeff47]

32. By the time it's a palpable lump, it's no longer a screening

It's time for a biopsy, not a mammogram.

[mitchtv]

33. that kind of run around

gets people killed.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

35. As someone who has a very long history of breast issues --

If it can be felt in an exam, it is WAY beyond mammogram time and onto needle biopsy, period. There hasn't been a single time when a lump was felt by a practitioner where a mammie was the next step -- never. The next step was always a needle biopsy, sometimes with ultrasound imaging.

That man's incompetent physician is the problem, not the mammogram screening programs.

[kestrel91316]

36. If he already has a lump, it's not a "screening", it's diagnostic radiography.

Somebody, somewhere in this picture is a moron. Probably a receptionist.

[uppityperson]

38. Rec'd and unrec'd as he does not need a mammo but a biopsy. And a male relative of minen had

breast cancer. By the time is gets big enough to find, like this one, he needs a biopsy. So, no rec for fox Story. I hope he gets the care he needs.