Woman champions 'dense breast' bill

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Teresa Hendricks-Pitsch had a mammogram and received an all-clear diagnosis. A few months later, she found out she had breast cancer.

She, like many other women, had dense breasts. Mammograms aren't always able to detect breast cancer in those women . After her diagnosis, Hendricks-Pitsch became an advocate for action.

Now, a bill is before a Michigan House committee that would make it mandatory for radiologists to tell women if they have dense breast tissue.

The bill, sponsored by recently-voted out Rep. Roy Schmidt (R-Grand Rapids), would mean a woman would be notified if she has dense breasts and that an MRI or ultrasound might be a better way for detection.

"You think that the mammogram is going to be able to see the cancer in dense breast tissue, but in reality it's white. Cancer is white," Pitsch said, "just like the dense breast tissue."

But if women don't know they have dense breasts, she said, they don't know what questions to ask or what steps to take to stay healthy. That's why she's trying to make this bill become a law.

If the bill becomes law, patients would get a notice from their doctor that would look something like this:

"The physician interpreting your mammography examination has determined that you have dense breast tissue. mammography has known limitations and, in a patient who has dense breast tissue, some abnormalities may not appear. If you were referred to us by a physician, a written report of the results of your mammography examination, including information about your breast density, has been sent to your physician. this notice is intended to raise your awareness and promote discussion between you and your physician regarding the results of your mammography examination. depending upon your individual risk factors, your physician may recommend additional tests including an ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]. You should contact your physician if you have any questions or concerns regarding the results of your mammography examination."

Though Schmidt lost his re-election bid after a last-minute party switch scandal, Hendricks-Pitsch doesn't know if his association with the bill will hurt its chances of becoming law.

"I think that the bill is so tied into women's health that it will have massive bi partisan support, no matter what happens," she said. "If you care about women's health, if you care about early detection and you know that that matters, then you're going to be behind this bill."

Schmidt told 24 Hour News 8 over the phone Tuesday night that he hopes the bill becomes law by the end of his term, but said he's confident if it doesn't that other lawmakers will reintroduce it next year.  

The bill has currently been referred to the Committee on Health Policy. Rep. Tom Hooker (R-Byron Center) is a member of that committee and he said while he "never know[s] what's going to come up in lame duck [session]," it's unlikely that the bill will be discussed and passed before the end of the year. Hooker said it was made clear that unless the issue was a priority, anything introduced after September would not likely be heard.  

Winnie Brinks, who defeated Schmidt in the Nov. 6 election, was at the Van Andel Institute's Breast Cancer Awareness luncheon on Tuesday.

"I was invited to learn more about this event and about the issues with breast cancer and making sure that we have adequate tools to diagnose it," Brinks told 24 Hour News 8. "I understand there's legislation that's been introduced and would like it learn more about that and the story behind why it was introduced and see what, if anything, I can do to help further that."

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The dense breast awareness bill