U.S. panel 'clarifies' mammogram advice

A committee that's been attacked for its controversial mammogram recommendations for half a decade clarified that advice Monday, saying they have been misunderstood. The panel says women in their 40s can get mammograms every year if they want to, but said it really needs to be up to a woman to decide if she wants to risk the anxiety of getting a false positive result ? one showing a breast lump that turns out not to be cancer, after all. So the recommendations remain the same ? women over 50 should get a mammogram every other year. Women 40 to 49 should decide what they want, based on their health history, and it's not clear if women over 75 should bother with mammograms.