The 2009 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Guidelines Ignore Important Scientific Evidence and Should Be Revised or Withdrawn

The 2009 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Guidelines Ignore Important Scientific Evidence and Should Be Revised or Withdrawn
Daniel B. Kopans
Radiology 2010;256 15-20

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The task force should know that their guidelines, and not revisionist statements, will be used to dissuade, if not prevent, women from undergoing mammographic screening

The USPSTF comprised individuals who had no direct expertise in mammographic screening. The members chosen to review mammographic screening are, by charter, “internists, pediatricians, family physicians, gynecologists/obstetricians, and nurses”. 

Based on the oversights listed above, it seems to me that they did not understand the fundamentals of the randomized controlled trials of screening. They ignored direct data from screened populations in favor of computer models that were selected for them and decided to deprive women of access to screening because the task force decided that the anxiety caused by a recall from screening (most of which are easily resolved by extra mammographic views or US) was too much for women to tolerate

More Mammography Muddle: Emotions, Politics, Science, Costs, and Polarization

More Mammography Muddle: Emotions, Politics, Science, Costs, and Polarization
Leonard Berlin and Ferris M. Hall
Radiology 2010;255 311-316

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Controversies regarding medical screening and many other cost-benefit health care decisions are increasingly societal issues rather than purely scientific ones, and therefore, open-minded public discussion and education should be welcome

Can Computer-aided Detection Be Detrimental to Mammographic Interpretation?

Can Computer-aided Detection Be Detrimental to Mammographic Interpretation?
Liane E. Philpotts
Radiology 2009;253 17-22

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Understanding of the limitations of computer-aided detection is important for those interpreting mammograms; this cautious approach to the use of computer-aided detection should help optimize this presently imperfect system and minimize the possible detrimental effects

The Preponderance of Evidence Supports Computer-aided Detection for Screening Mammography

The Preponderance of Evidence Supports Computer-aided Detection for Screening Mammography
Robyn L. Birdwell
Radiology 2009;253 9-16

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Having a system to aid the human eye that does not take vacations, is not vulnerable to fatigue or environmental distractions, is without, emotion, and is designed specifically to assist the very human eye to "look over here" seems like a good idea