Hollywood Stars Slam Federal Mammogram Guidelines

LOS ANGELES – Last November, a federal panel put in place “updated” mammography guidelines, recommending women delay having routine screenings until the age of 50 and counseling against the teaching of self breast examinations. But Hollywood stars are doing all they can to squash these new “recommendations.”

“I think I threw something across the room,” breast cancer survivor Christina Applegate told Tarts at the 13th Annual Unforgettable Evening benefit for the Entertainment Industry Foundation's Women's Cancer Research Fund, when we asked about her initial reaction to the federal guidelines. “I mean, are you kidding? After me, and so many other women were out there and got [cancer] young and they had the audacity to say that. It really angered me. So much is about politics and money and it is so sad. I was 36, my mom was 38 and a lot of my girlfriends who had it are 30, 32, 28 (when diagnosed). This is not a disease of age anymore.”

But Applegate isn’t alone when it comes to warning people against this new mammography approach.

“I care very deeply about the women in my life and about preventing cancer in their lives. I’m a big proponent of early detection and early screening and I want to make sure people are educated about that,” "House" star Olivia Wilde said.

Actress Rita Wilson also admitted that she was perplexed by the whole situation.

“It’s very confusing to me, I’m up to speed on all of this and I’m confused. My theory, and this is just my opinion, is to get a mammogram starting at 40 until we have more information,” she advised. “Better to stay on the side of what tradition has been.”

However, it seems Wilson’s hubby Tom Hanks has a more progressive (or shall we say aggressive) attitude toward curing cancer.

“We're going to kick the s**t out of women’s cancer! Bleep me when I say that,” he exclaimed. “It's a big smack down between science and women’s cancers and all you need is some cash!”

And on the note of health and finances, actress Angie Harmon is particularly ecstatic over the fact that Obama’s attempt to implement universal health care has so far failed to come to fruition.

“I am overjoyed. There’s probably 15-20 million people that it (Obama’s plan) might or might not have worked for … out of 300 million,” Harmon said. “And what happened in [Massachusetts] shows that the people have spoken, it’s not something we’re interested in and I agree wholeheartedly. I’m happy it turned out this way.”