An Inspiring, Misleading Tale About Breast-Cancer Screening

Last month, a 40-year-old woman went to have her first mammogram, an unexceptional event at a time when women are encouraged to have breast-cancer screenings early and often. What was unusual about this test was that it was witnessed not just by an X-ray technician but by millions of people sitting in their living rooms. The screening patient was Amy Robach, a correspondent on Good Morning America. Robach had been encouraged to do the on-air test by GMA anchor Robin Roberts, who had survived a breast-cancer scare herself in 2007. The segment seemed like simple encouragement for viewers to do their own regular mammograms, part of “GMA Goes Pink,” a month-long effort to raise breast-cancer awareness—until yesterday, when Robach announced that the mammogram showed she had breast cancer