A purported charity called The Breast Cancer Survivors Foundation existed for six years, raising money through direct mailers and soliciting donors over the phone. It took in about $3 million per year, spinning heartwarming tales in its mailings of helping patients. This turned out to not actually be true, and those millions went to the professional fundraiser who ran the operation. [More]
breast cancer
Cancer Faker Who Raked In $130K In Donations Gets 6-Month Sentence
By 5.23.17
After lying about having terminal breast cancer and collecting almost $130,000 in donations for her treatment, a woman pleaded no contest to grand theft and has been sentenced to six months in county jail, 30 days of community labor, and five years of felony probation. She also has to repay the fraudulently obtained donations. [More]
Science Sez: No Evidence That Bras Cause Breast Cancer
By 9.5.14
Some people believe that wearing a bra might interfere with lymph circulation and waste removal from the breast, possibly increasing the risk of breast cancer. But according to newly published research, there’s no evidence indicating that sporting a bra leads to a heightened cancer risk. [More]
Former Radiological Technician Posed As A Doctor To Falsify 1,300 Mammograms
By 4.28.14
Nearly 1,300 women who thought mammograms had shown they were clear of cancer were likely shocked to find out that a former radiological technician had instead signed into the system as multpiple doctors and falsely signed off on all those reports. She’s just been convicted and sentenced to serve up to six months in a detention center, 10 years on probation — meaning she can’t work anywhere in health care — and will have to pay a $12,500 fine. [More]
FedEx Loses Breast Tumor Bound For Lab, Scares Cancer Patient
By 3.14.14
When a shipping service loses your new computer or your book, it can be frustrating but not catastrophic. After all, somewhere there’s a warehouse full of more computers and more books. Shippers also handle things that are totally irreplaceable. Like human tissue on which someone’s life depends. [More]
FDA Approves First Pre-Surgical Breast Cancer Drug
By 9.30.13
While many of the hundreds of thousands of people who are diagnosed each year with breast cancer go through radiation or chemotherapy before surgery, until now drugs aimed at treating breast cancer were not FDA-approved for use in the pre-surgery stage. [More]
NY Shuts Down Sham Fundraising Company That Took In Millions Of Donations For Breast Cancer “Research”
By 5.3.13
Between 2005 and 2011, the Coalition Against Breast Cancer raised around $10 million in donations intended for research to combat the disease, but authorities say that no such research ever occurred, and all that money went to pay for a grand total of 40 mammograms in seven years. [More]
Daughter Of Breast-Cancer Survivor Petitions Victoria’s Secret To Create Nice Bras For Women With Mastectomies
By 1.17.13
After decades of watching her cancer-survivor mother struggle to find bras that fit, and those bras were either cheap and purely functional or incredibly expensive. So she’s called on Victoria’s Secret to see if the company can make mastectomy bras that look good, fit, and don’t break the bank. [More]
NY Attorney General Calls On Breast Cancer Charities To Be Transparent About Where The Money Is Going
By 10.18.12
It seems like every October, there are more pink items for sale to promote National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which has led to growing concern that the focus is on selling merchandise without being clear about how much money is actually going to cancer research. In an effort to keep these charities honest, the Attorney General for New York state has issued a set of best practices. [More]
How Much Is The NFL Profiting From All This Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Merchandise?
By 10.11.12
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and anyone who has watched an NFL game this month and seen players sporting pinks shoes and other accessories can tell you. But for all the talk about raising awareness of the deadly disease, is the NFL just looking at pink and seeing green? [More]
Komen Foundation Reverses Decision On Planned Parenthood
By 2.3.12
Earlier this week, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation announced a rule change that would cut off funding it had provided to Planned Parenthood to pay for breast exams. After a massive public outcry regarding this decision, the foundation today decided it had maybe made a mistake. [More]
Angry Reviewers Sink Susan G. Komen Foundation's GuideStar Rating
By 2.2.12
As you’ve probably read about in the last few days, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (also known as Susan G. Komen for the Cure) decided to stop funding breast exams and mammograms at Planned Parenthood locations. This has obviously not gone over well with a number of people who view the decision as a capitulation to Christian conservatives. So in response, some of them have taken to the non-profit world’s equivalent of Yelp to voice their disapproval. [More]
For At-Risk Women, MRIs May Be Better Than Mammograms
By 9.21.11
Mammograms have long been standard breast cancer detection tools, but researchers say magnetic resonance imaging may be more effective at finding tumors in women who are more at risk of contracting cancer and are medically underserved. [More]
Study: Smoking Increases Breast Cancer Risk
By 1.25.11
If you were looking for yet another reason to trash that last pack of cigarettes, medical journal Archives of Internal Medicine has got one for you. Smoking slightly ups your odds of developing breast cancer, according to a study. [More]
Even Women With Insurance Put Off Mammograms
By 12.10.10
A new study reports that even women with insurance are putting off getting mammograms, says CBS News. The study looked at health insurance claims from women and found that nearly 50% of those 40 and older had not had a yearly mammogram — and nearly 40% of those over 50 didn’t even have one every two years. [More]
Smoke Pink Cigarettes, Fight Breast Cancer
By 11.1.10
For every pack of pink cigarettes you smoke, RJ Morris will donate half a cent to breast cancer research. [More]
Woman Allegedly Fired For Carrying Breast Cancer Gene
By 5.4.10
A Connecticut woman is suing her ex-employer for firing her because she was genetically at a higher risk for developing breast cancer, according to her lawsuit. [More]
KFC "Pink Buckets" Not Best Way To Fight Breast Cancer
By 4.25.10
KFC is urging customers to buy “pink buckets” to help fight breast cancer. However, you could buy a dozen KFC buckets and it wouldn’t put an extra dime towards breast cancer research, reports The Washington Post. The fine print on KFC’s “buckets for the cure” website speaks for itself: [More]
