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Source: Pink Smart News

AT LAST! “ARE YOU DENSE ADVOCACY” LANDS 20-YEAR TOUCHDOWN: Legislation for National Support for Women’s Health

9/11/2024- The Dense Breast Disclosure Law was officially confirmed at the Legislative Building in the CT State Capitol, hosted by the ‘Are You Dense Advocacy’ organization. The conference was emceed by Mr. Joe Cappello, co-founder and executive director, establishing both a celebration and an historical landmark for the 20+ year crusade for a national legislation. The law affirms the vision of the late Dr. Nancy Cappello for a public educational advocacy to protect women from misinformation about their breast health. This initiative enacted national support for legislative action to enforce patient disclosure about tissue density.

Room #5100 of the Legislative Office Building was filled with supporters from many areas of the 20+ year dense breast advocacy crusade ‘raised the roof’ of this national movement in support of women’s health. The lineup included Mr. Anthony D’Amelio (former CT House Rep), Dr. William Pizzuto, Sandy Cassenelli (founder of Breast Friends Fund & Metastatic Breast Cancer Survivor) and Mary Deming (President of Seymour Pink) are among the list of supportive speakers. The audience was also filled with an array of executive directors from the national breast cancer community including the American Breast Cancer Foundation. – Click here for a complete list of speakers and their transcripts.

A powerful voice in national Women’s Health advocacy resonated from the back of the room, where a familiar face from the big-screen took center stage. The highly-beloved CT Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro transmitted a compelling video message from Washington and received a rousing applause with many tears of loving support. “Today we celebrate the launch of the Food and Drug Administration’s Breast Density Notification Rule. I am a 35 year cancer survivor. I’m alive today thanks to the grace of God, the care of hardworking medical professionals, the power of biomedical research and early detection. In 2009, this law was championed by my dear friend Dr. Nancy Capello, who passed away several years ago due to breast cancer…Had Nancy been notified of her status earlier, she may have been here today to celebrate with us. Nancy’s husband (Joe) carried on her fight and their story inspired me. I want to thank you again for inviting me to join you today. I urge you to keep up the fight.”

Dr. Lennard Gettz from NY spoke on behalf of the Integrative Cancer Resource Society and the Women’s Health Collaborative. He delivered a combined statement from top members including Dr. Robert Bard (NYC), Dr. Noelle Cutter (NY), Dr. Roberta Kline (NM), Dr. Nancy Novack (AZ), Dr. Leslie Valle-Montoya (CA) and Geri Barish (Hewlett House/NY). “The battle against breast cancer is waged from many fronts; we all need to do our part to improve on the clinical diagnostics and therapeutic modalities while bringing renewed empowerment to all sufferers inflicted by cancer. We are also here together to enforce awareness to the underserved and the underdiagnosed women who needs hope. To address all these needs simultaneously is where the battle rages on- and that’s where you will find us standing together… with ‘Are You Dense?’ and the many other champions whose courage pushes for a global upgrade in saving lives!”

Thanks to the power of web-streaming technology, an unconfirmed count of breast cancer orgs nationwide (and their respective members) accessed the live feed of the Are You Dense? event. Donna Johnson, president of ‘Are You Dense?’ mentioned about an upcoming virtual (seminar-style) event which will launch sometime in mid-October- bringing in some of the top names in public advocacy as well as leaders from the medical community.

For more info. on this press release, contact ‘Are You Dense Alliance’ (multimedia dist.) / Alexandra Fiederlein: editor.prevention101@gmail.com or call 516-522-0777