When Breast Cancer Tests Get It Wrong

An excerpt from CNN.com

An excerpt from CNN.com Imagine going in for a cancer screening, and the technician turns to you and says, "We're finished, but if I push this button over here, the machine can detect even smaller cancers. But here's the hitch: You have to pay $700 if you want me to push this button."

"You'd be enraged," says Ellen Matloff, director of cancer genetic counseling at Yale University Cancer Center. "You'd want to know why you have to pay extra to push that button. Why didn't they just do it right the first time?"

Click the above light blue link to read the full article at cnn.com Read more!

Gene Patents "Like Trying to Keep Water in a Sieve"

"When Myriad started enforcing their patents, they shut down all other labs, including our lab at Yale," (from doing BRCA sequencing), Ellen Matloff, a plaintiff in the case and head of genetic counseling at Yale Cancer Center, told IPS.

See the above light blue link for the full article and more information. Read more!

Congratulations to Ellen Matloff, MS - recipient of FORCE's 2011 Empowerment Award for Advocacy!

From FORCE's Fall 2011 Newsletter

by Sue Friedman

2011 Spirit of Empowerment Award for Advocacy

Ellen Matloff is Director of the Cancer Genetic Counseling Program at Yale Cancer Center. She’s been a member of FORCE’s Scientific Advisory Board since 2002, helping us develop educational materials and draft position statements on key topics. Ellen has been a strong outspoken advocate for the importance of genetic counseling for people concerned about hereditary cancer. As lead plaintiff in the ACLU gene patenting lawsuit, she strives to improve patient access to testing. Read more!