MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer

LONDON (AP) — In the latest major study to consider whether the dangers of mammograms outweigh the benefits, experts say the tests can reduce the chances of dying from breast cancer by nearly 30 percent and that national screening programs should continue.

The debate over the value of mammograms has raged in recent years.

A British review in 2012 concluded that for every life mammograms save, about three other women are unnecessarily treated for a cancer that would never have threatened their lives. In February, a rigorous Canadian paper covering older methods of screening that followed women for more than two decades suggested mammograms don’t lower the risk of dying from breast cancer.

In the new observational study, researchers tracked all Norwegian women aged 50 to 79 between 1986 and 2009, just as a national screening program was getting underway. Scientists used a model to estimate breast cancer death rates in women invited to get a mammogram as part of the government-funded program and in those who weren’t included yet. They said about 76 percent of women offered a mammogram actually got it.

The researchers estimated about 368 women need to be given a chance to have a mammogram to prevent one death from breast cancer and that screening reduces breast cancer deaths by about 28 percent — similar to what many other studies about mammography have concluded.

The research was published online Tuesday in the British journal, BMJ and was paid for by the Norwegian Research Council.

“Mammograms do provide some benefit, but the problem is the screening is so sensitive it captures tumors without malignant potential,” said Lars Vatten of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, one of the study’s authors.

Vatten said improved treatments for breast cancer were also lowering death rates in developed countries, making mammograms less important since even cancers caught later are sometimes still treatable.

He said the benefits of getting a mammogram justified ongoing national screening programs but that women should be given more information about the potential harms, like having unnecessary treatment including surgery and chemotherapy.

In many Western European countries, women are offered mammograms every other year from age 50 to 70. In the U.S., a government-appointed task force recommends the screening start at 50 while the American Cancer Society recommends yearly mammograms from age 40.

“To tell women not to have a mammogram is probably an overreaction but we are becoming more certain screening has significant harms,” said Russell Harris of the University of North Carolina, who co-authored an accompanying editorial. He said the paper’s estimate that being offered a chance to get a mammogram reduces breast cancer deaths by almost 30 percent was an overestimate because of the uncertainties in the model.

“Getting a mammogram is something that women should be given a choice about,” Harris said. “It’s reasonable to decide not to do it.”

DAVID PITT, Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A crop scientist credited with developing hundreds of varieties of disease-resistant wheat adaptable to many climates has been awarded the 2014 World Food Prize.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has ordered Shawnee County District Court to hold a hearing to determine if genetic testing of sperm donor is in the best interest of the child the donor allegedly fathered.

The court’s decision negates Shawnee County court ruling that ordered the sperm donor, William Marotta, to be tested to determine if he’s the father of the now 4-year-old girl born to a lesbian couple after Marotta donated his sperm.

The state wants Marotta to be responsible for about $6,000 in public assistance the state provided, as well as future child support.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the court said in a ruling released Friday that Kansas law dictates that the best interests of a child must prevail in determining parental rights and obligations.

TOPEKA – The Kansas State Department of Education today announced the 2014 state finalists for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching during a ceremony held at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson. These awards represent the nation’s highest honor for mathematics and science teaching.

The 2014 state finalists for mathematics are:

• Michelle Kelly, Basehor Elementary School, USD 458 Basehor-Linwood,
• Anne Sobba, Nieman Elementary School, USD 512 Shawnee Mission
• Kandy Williams, West Elementary School, USD 320 Wamego.

The 2014 state finalists for science are:
• Elaine Colvin, Humboldt Elementary School, USD 258 Humboldt
• Brandi Leggett, Prairie Ridge Elementary School, USD 232 De Soto
• Clayton Schrader, West Indianola Elementary School, USD 345 Seaman

The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching are presented to educators who show a high degree of knowledge, innovation, skill and leadership. Elementary and secondary educators are recognized in alternating years. This year, elementary educators are being recognized. Kansas had 12 mathematics nominees and 9 science nominees (a list of all nominees is included). Each of the finalists receives a $500 cash award and will go on to compete for a national finalist title. Two educators from each state, one in the area of mathematics and one in science, may be named national finalists next spring. Each of the national finalists will receive an award of $10,000.

The awards ceremony was part of a two-day conference open to the nominees and other members of the Kansas Exemplary Educators Network. The conference, which took place Monday and Tuesday at the Kansas Cosmosphere & Space Center in Hutchinson, included presentations from leading Kansas educators, Westar Energy and the Kansas Cosmosphere.

Two northwest Kansas educators were nominated for the science award: Terra Keeten of Phillipsburg Elementary School and Tamara Wynn of Trego Grade School.

Subsidies mean most people who went through exchange pay less than $100 a month

By KHI NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON — A new report analyzing health plan enrollment through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace shows that most people who signed up — about 70 percent — are paying less than $100 per month for coverage after their advance tax credits are accounted for and nearly half those who enrolled are paying less than $50 per month.

The online marketplace or exchange was launched Oct. 1, 2013, but because of technical difficulties and low public awareness most people who signed up did so in the weeks approaching the March 31 open enrollment deadline.

More than 8 million people nationwide selected plans through the marketplace, according to the report.

Federal subsidies to buy in the marketplace are available to those who don’t have employer-based coverage options and earn between 100 percent and 400 percent of federal poverty guidelines.

Senior officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services described the report in a teleconference Tuesday with news reporters. They answered questions on condition they not be identified other than as “senior HHS officials” but never clearly explained why they felt they needed anonymity other than that they wanted to make themselves available to answer questions about the study ahead of its official release to the public early today.

The report did not include information about the coverage costs of people who signed up for plans through the various state-run exchanges. Federal officials said those numbers weren’t yet available from the states. Two of the larger states, California and New York, had their own exchanges. Kansas was among the more than two dozen states that opted to let the federal government operate the marketplace instead of developing their own.

The Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, required that marketplace plans be available in every state, and HHS officials encouraged each state to operate its own. But Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback was among the Republican state leaders who defaulted to the federal marketplace as part of their opposition to the federal health reform law.

Among the report highlights:

The average premium paid after tax credits for the most popular plans — silver level — was $69 per month with a corresponding average monthly tax credit of $276.

“The new tax credits are working as intended,” one of the HHS officials said.

Of those eligible to purchase a marketplace plan, 82 percent lived in a rating area with between three and 11 issuers; 96 percent lived in areas with at least two issuers. Two states, New Hampshire and West Virginia, each had only one issuer. New York had 16 issuers, more than any other state.

The officials said they didn’t know how the numbers might change once information is received from the state-run exchanges.

“We’re analyzing the data as fast as we can get them in,” one said. “Until then we can’t speculate a lot on how it’s going to shake out.”

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — No injuries have been reported after a night of tornadoes in parts of northern and northeast Nebraska.

The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency says a suspected twister damaged farmsteads near Coleridge and in the Laurel and Hartington areas on Tuesday. Coleridge sits about 35 miles north of Pilger, which was heavily damaged by a tornado on Monday. Two people were killed.

The National Weather Service also says tornadoes touched down Tuesday night in northwest Nebraska’s Cherry and Hooker counties. The service says it received reports that a semitrailer was overturned and a car was blown over.

Sheriff’s dispatchers in both counties say they’ve heard no reports of injuries.