The Obama administration waded into the furor over new recommendations on mammograms by a government-appointed panel. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebellius downplayed the panel's findings, saying mammograms still vital for women age 40 and above.

Good start Madam Secretary: The Obama Administration must go farther. The public must be assured that the mammogram recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force do not find their way into health care legislation.

My column was one of many voices critical of panel's recommendation.

Breast cancer falls behind lung cancer as the top killer of women.
Black women have a higher rate of a more aggressive form of the disease. Like any cancer, the longer it goes undetected the stronger the disease grows and the more difficult it is to cure. Mammograms may not save enough lives to impress the scientists but if it saved your life, your wife's or your daughter's, wouldn't it be worth it.

It apparently is for the 39 million women who undergo mammograms each year in the United States. I understand the expense - more than $5 billion annually for the health care system - represents a challenge. But what would be the cost to the healthcare system if fewer women got mammograms and there was a rise in breast cancer diagnoses in the latter stages when it is more expensive and perilous to treat?