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Mammography Exams Not Important to Arrogant Men

By Alicia Dorr in News on Aug 8, 2007 6:01PM

mammogram.jpgUsually we're pretty keen on jumping on the Todd-Stroger-hatin' bandwagon when we hear about yet another cut to some desperately needed county program. But as the casualties continue to pile up, we find ourselves focusing less on Toddler and the 17 dwarves and more on the people who are losing the precious services they need to survive — and it just sucks.

The latest loss is particularly heartbreaking — Stroger Hospital will no longer perform routine mammogram checks. Since breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in women in this country, and mammogram screenings are attributed as a major factor in the recent decline in breast cancer deaths, we think this is absolutely inexcusable.

As is the reasoning behind the decision, per President Stroger: that the county is simply bearing too much of the burden for the uninsured. Hm. Really? Because we think it's more like the county is bearing too much of the burden for Stroger's pals and unncessary employees.

We find it increasingly difficult to believe (really, we never bought it in the first place) that the money can't be found elsewhere. Making the choice to close clinics and cease operation of critical health services like mammography screenings — which their own web site cites as crucial — and then mumbling incoherently about tax hikes is unacceptable. Maybe our thinking is a bit too pragmatic for the bloated county system, but we'd rather see Mammography Vans on the streets than Toddler in the President's chair.

Photo via plateshack.com.