File #: Res 0583-2006    Version: * Name: Congress to pass the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2005 (S. 910/H.R. 1849).
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Health
On agenda: 10/25/2006
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution urging the United States Congress to pass the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2005 (S. 910/H.R. 1849).
Sponsors: Inez E. Dickens, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Albert Vann, Rosie Mendez, Robert Jackson, Larry B. Seabrook, James S. Oddo, Joel Rivera, Eric N. Gioia, David I. Weprin, John C. Liu, James Vacca, Gale A. Brewer, Leroy G. Comrie, Jr., Lewis A. Fidler, Helen D. Foster, Vincent J. Gentile, Alan J. Gerson, Sara M. Gonzalez, Letitia James, G. Oliver Koppell, Darlene Mealy, Michael C. Nelson, Annabel Palma, Domenic M. Recchia, Jr., Helen Sears, Thomas White, Jr., James F. Gennaro, Erik Martin Dilan, Daniel R. Garodnick, Betsy Gotbaum
Council Member Sponsors: 31

Res. No. 583

 

Resolution urging the United States Congress to pass the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2005 (S. 910/H.R. 1849).

 

By Council Members Dickens, Mark-Viverito, Vann, Mendez, Jackson, Seabrook, Oddo, Rivera, Gioia, Weprin, Liu, Vacca, Brewer, Comrie, Fidler, Foster, Gentile, Gerson, Gonzalez, James, Koppell, Mealy, Nelson, Palma, Recchia Jr., Sears, White Jr., Gennaro, Dilan, Garodnick and The Public Advocate (Ms. Gotbaum)

 

 

Whereas, According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, except for nonmelanoma skin cancers; and

Whereas, ACS statistics also indicate that the chance of a woman developing invasive breast cancer at some point in her life is about 1 in 8; and

Whereas, Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death, after lung cancer, for women in the United States; and

Whereas, According to an Issue Brief from the National Research Center (NRC) for Women and Families entitled Mastectomy v. Lumpectomy: Who Decides?, in 2006, more than 200,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer; and

Whereas, The most common methods of treatment for breast cancer in the United States are surgery, which include lumpectomy or mastectomy, radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and biologic therapy; and

 Whereas, The NRC brief also states that half of women who are deemed eligible for lumpectomy will opt to undergo mastectomy surgery instead; and

Whereas, Such surgeries should allow for a hospital stay sufficient to ensure that the patient is not experiencing any adverse affects; and

Whereas, The Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2005 (S. 910/H.R. 1849), a bill currently before Congress, would ensure that hospital stays could not be limited to less than 48 hours for a mastectomy or breast conserving surgery, or to less than 24 hours for surgeries involving lymph node dissection; and

Whereas, The Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2005 would also ensure coverage of a second opinion for any breast cancer diagnosis, as well as coverage for radiation therapy for patients undergoing a lumpectomy; and

Whereas, The Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2005 would help place control of important medical decisions in the hands of the patient and doctor, rather than with insurance companies; and

Whereas, Patients should not be forced as a result of insurance limitations to leave a hospital too quickly following surgery, against their wishes or the advice of their doctor, nor should patients be denied potentially life saving radiation therapy if they choose to have a lumpectomy rather than a mastectomy; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York urges the United States Congress to pass the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2005 (S. 910/H.R. 1849).

 

LS 1957

10/17/06

JP