DEPARTMENT OF SELF-CARICATURE:

The Department of Health and Human Services' Death Panel (Steve Forbes, Nov. 21, 2011, Forbes)

A routine rectal exam last spring resulted in an alarming finding, subsequently confirmed by an ultrasound and a biopsy. The Gleason score was flashing red, so my prostate was removed, and--knock on wood--it seems the disease was caught early and successfully.

The task force makes a big deal about the unpleasant side effects in treating prostate cancer. But with a disease like cancer I'll take the side effects of treatment over letting nature take its course.

You'd never realize it from this panel, but the death rate from prostate cancer has dropped 40% in recent years, the result of a combination of early detection and better treatments.

Imagine how far the rate would drop if we just declared them universally cancerous and removed every prostate?

Posted by oj at November 6, 2011 4:43 PM
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