Should-Read: Ann Marie Marciarille: Men First: "The New York Times had quite an interesting article... on cancer biopsy laboratory error rates... http://www.marciarille.com/2017/06/men-first.html
...Despite a lack of any evidence I can find that the problem is prostate cancer biopsy-specific, a prostate cancer-specific bill has been introduced for the past few years in Congress, and once again in May of this year to require Medicare to reimburse for the DNA linked biopsy system for certain prostate cancer biopsies only.
Now, I get it that prostate cancer biopsies are reasonably common among the male Medicare population. Yet there is no reason to believe that the error rate is linked to the kind of tissue involved in the biopsy.... It takes a kind of cruel calculus to think that a cervical, uterine, or breast biopsy that might lead to either unnecessary cancer treatment or failure in treatment of such cancer is less concerning to the individual involved than a similar experience with prostate cancer. I also have to wonder, if the prostate cancer biopsy bill were to pass, whether it would lead the way to better cancer biopsy lab practices for all or if it might well relieve pressure to address the concerns of all about cancer biopsy laboratory error rates.
