On November 1, Governor Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania signed the Breast Density Notification Act into law, requiring mammogram reports to include breast density information. The act becomes effective in 90 days.
Pennsylvania becomes the 13th state to enact legislation and raises to 45% the number of American women living in states with mandatory breast density notification. Advocates say that ultimately the law will improve early detection of breast cancer for thousands of women across Pennsylvania.
On the federal regulatory level, a Breast Density Reporting amendment to the Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA) is scheduled to be issued as a “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” in December 2013. On the federal legislative front, Reps. DeLauro (CT) and Israel (NY) have just introduced The Breast Density and Mammography Reporting Act of 2013 (HR 3404) and Sen. Feinstein will be introducing a companion bill in the Senate shortly.
