Brawley noted at the time that the task force was essentially telling women that mammography at ages 40 to 49 saves lives -- just not enough of them to recommend annualscreening.
Annual gonorrhea screening is also recommended for sexually active women with new or multiple sex partners and women who live in communities with a high burden of the disease.
The same year the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended that physicians perform annual depression screening for adolescents 12 to 18 years old as long as systems are in place to ensure accurate diagnosis, psychotherapy and follow-up.
Of course, with more seniors able to get that annual physical along with the other screening programs that will become available at no charge, there will need to be physicians available to them to provide these services.
Lepor thinks it is impractical to suggest that a primary care physician who has 15 to 20 minutes to spend with a patient fully explain all the pros and cons of screening in the course of an annual physical.