[fieldmarshaldj]

The government needs to get the hell out of health care.

[ClearCase_guy]

I believe they did this with Breast Cancer too. Lots of women getting tested, because early detection can save lives. Then, all of a sudden, early detection wasn't really saving all that many lives, and -- you know -- it was kind of expensive, and so the government guidelines suddenly changed. Who needs testing??

Government involvement in health care just means more bean counting and rigid regulations. People die because of that stuff.

[vette6387]

Simple workaround. Your doctor needs to order a “Diagnostic” PSA test as opposed to a “Screening” PSA test. They have different codes, but they are identical. I had some bitch Phlebotomist advise me upon the occasion of an annual PSA screening that “this was all I would get for the year.” I told her that I would “get” as many as my doctor and I jointly decided was appropriate. Dying of Prostate Cancer is needless today.

[Sans-Culotte]

When I had my physical this summer, the lab somehow forgot to run the PSA even though my doctor had ordered it. So, I had to go back to the lab (at extra expense) to have it done (I passed, BTW). My doctor is very dedicated to her patients (my doctor is a woman) and is not too keen on the changes ObamaCare DeathCare hath wrought. She will probably start piling up demerits.

[ConorMacNessa]

This has been looming for some time. I had my first PSA before the turn of the century. In 2006, at age 59, I had a PSA high enough (4.5, IIRC) to cause my PCP to refer me to a urologist, who performed a prostate biopsy. Inconclusive - some precancerous cells.

A year later, my follow-up biopsy disclosed a fast advancing cancer - 9 Gleason, for which I was treated - classic radiation for 42 days and hormones for two years.

I'm now 8 years out, and but for that 2006 PSA, I'd be a dead man.

Thanks, Obama, and bean-counters everywhere!

"I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender
the members of my command while they still have the means to resist."

[Theodore R.]

Is the PSA reliable? I understand it is not reliable. Maybe I’m wrong. What about the link between cholesterol and cardiovascular disease? Is there really a link?

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Oh, great, Obama wants to make sure that I kick early, given my family history of prostate cancer.

PING!

[Diogenesis]

There will be PSA tests for Congress, for SCOTUS,
for POTUS, and their families, and their staff,
and, of course, all Moslems.

Similarly for breast cancer, and every other disease.

Death panels for all, except the duplicitous GOP monsters.

[LucyT]

.

Obama's new cancer Rx is a war on men (mostly white men since they are more likely to be screened for cancer than other races.)

Article and # 3 , # 4 .

[Diogenesis]

Americans must thank the Bishop Romney and the GOP
for iMPOSING, by Gruber, RomneyCARE and socialized
medicine run by ... the EXEMPT government.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

PING.

[Sooth2222]

National Cancer Institute: "How do prostate cancer incidence and death rates differ for men from different racial or ethnic groups?"

"African American/Black men have the highest incidence rate for prostate cancer in the United States and are more than twice as likely as White men to die of the disease. The lowest death rates for prostate cancer are found in Asian/Pacific Islander men. Incidence and death rates for prostate cancer are shown in Table 4."

http://www.cancer.gov/about-nci/organization/crchd/cancer-health-disparities-fact-sheet#q9

Black lives only matter to Obama when there are political points to be gained.

[WTFOVR]

Somewhere out in the great “flyover country,” there exists individuals who are nearing their breaking points ... In that regard, I predict that within the next 12 months, Obama is very likely to contract a lethal case of lead poisoning. But then again I could be wrong.

[Tired of Taxes]

The administration wants to penalize doctors who routinely order the PSA blood test.

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[ProtectOurFreedom]

My doc told me a couple weeks ago that not only does he now recommend against the PSA test, he has also stopped the “digital” test as well. He says that the meta-analysis (study of studies) has revealed no conclusive correlation between either test result and early detection of prostate cancer. He says that the tests often yield false positives which lead to unnecessary surgeries that actually cause more problems for the patient.

He was willing to administer the “digital” exam if I wanted, but I took a pass (this was a short pre-op physical for foot surgery).

It was a shock to hear his recommendations. I was skeptical and my initial reaction was the clinic is bowing to federal pressure to reduce costs. This article tends to support my suspicion.

Has anybody else on an HMO or PPO had their doc tell them this?

[dalereed]

A good reason to go to Cruise for the Cure car show in Orange County every year.

Every participant that wants it gets a PSA blood test and they mail you the results and a comparison to prior years if you are a regular participant free.

[SeaHawkFan]

This is the exact reason I was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer with 8 bone mets in Sept, 2014. It’s treatable, but it will eventually kill me based on today’s research and treatment options.

Had I gotten the biopsy I should have been told I needed a year earlier, I would have had a complete cure.

[Mike Darancette]

You can get a PSA test for under $80. Do it.

[Gator113]

.

[norwaypinesavage]

It's worse than even described. I can get a PSA test done at a local lab for just over $100. I would gladly pay the hundred bucks to get the test done on a schedule that I and my doctor think is best.

It is ILLEGAL for the lab to conduct the test, unless it is prescribed by a doctor. It's ILLEGAL for the doctor to prescribe a test for me to pay for by myself under Medicare rules. Thus, the only tests that I can legally have are at a rate dictated by some bureaucrats in Washington DC regardless of what my doctor and I think is best.