Shop

Mammograms are painful procedures that have been criticized for false positives and exposing patients to radiation, naturally some women were intrigued by the promise of digital breast thermography. Thermography is non-invasive scan that, according to the manufacturers and practitioners, can detect breast cancer up to 10 years before a mammogram. There's just one problem: doctors say it doesn't work. CBC identified over 50 thermography clinics in Canada, many of which claimed their equipment was able to detect breast cancer and save women from having to undergo mammograms. The American FDA had recently ordered Meditherm, a major manufacturers of thermography equipment, to stop making “false and misleading” claims about their products ability to diagnose illness. When we checked with Canadian regulators, both federally and provincially, each said another level of government was responsible for regulating thermography devices. CBC worked for weeks gathering interviews, information and documents related to thermography, all the while Canadian lawmakers stood by their original statements, saying thermography was not their problem. Across the country CBC started airing radio stories on the morning of November 27. By the evening news two provinces (Manitoba and Newfoundland) said they would take action against local clinics, and Health Canada said they were blocking the import of thermography devices into the country.