April 10, 2015 — North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed the Breast Density and Reporting Bill (HB 1370) into law April 9 in Bismarck, making North Dakota the 22nd state to enact such a law.
North Dakota Representatives Kathy Hawken and Pamela Anderson led the reporting efforts after hearing from Cynthia Eggl — a Fargo, North Dakota resident — whose breast cancer, invisible by mammography for years, was not detected until at a later stage.
"Too many women are relying on mammography alone to find potential breast cancer,” said Eggl. “For people with dense breast tissue, mammography may be missing early stage breast cancer, giving women a false sense of security that everything is fine. I appreciate the mentoring and leadership of Dr. Nancy Cappello and am grateful knowing my advocacy efforts will benefit women in my home state of North Dakota."
North Dakota joins Michigan (2015), Ohio, Missouri, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Arizona, New Jersey (2014) Tennessee, Hawaii, Maryland, Alabama, Nevada, Oregon, North Carolina, Pennsylvania (2013), Virginia, California, New York (2012), Texas (2011), and Connecticut (2009) to enact density reporting legislation to protect women from delayed diagnoses.
For more information: www.itnonline.com/article/breast-density-are-you-informed