California’s breast density law extended through 2025
California Gov. Jerry Brown guaranteed the state’s breast density notification program will extend through 2025 after he signed the Dense Breast Tissue Awareness bill (SB-1034) this week.
“This is potentially life-saving information for the women of California,” said patient advocate Amy Colton, who led the legislation efforts, in a statement. “While our hopes were for a complete repeal of the sunset clause, we are grateful California women will continue to receive information about their breast density and its implications for cancer detection and risk. The notification provides a foundation for the continued, critical conversation between patients and physicians to increase early detection.”
A total of 35 states now have enacted breast density notification, according to DenseBreast-info.org. Those laws are widely varied, and many don’t require women be provided the important information about their own breast density.
In the move toward a national standard, the FDA “anticipates” putting forward proposed amendments to the Mammography Quality Standards Act regulations for notice or comment. Additionally, the Breast Density and Mammography Reporting Act of 2017 has been has been brought to the Senate and House, according to the statement.
Matt joined Chicago’s TriMed team in 2018 covering all areas of health imaging after two years reporting on the hospital field. He holds a bachelor’s in English from UIC, and enjoys a good cup of coffee and an interesting documentary.