Pictured are State Representative Bill Patmon (D-Cleveland) (in solid red tie), Ohio Governor John Kasich (in blue tie), and State Representative Lynn Wachtmann (R-Napoleon) (in striped red tie)

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio-State Rep. Bill Patmon (D-Cleveland) announces that Gov. John Kasich has signed Substitute House Bill 147 into law. The purpose of this legislation, he said,  is to raise awareness about a woman’s surgical options pertaining to breast cancer mastectomies and reconstructive surgery.

 

Sub. H.B. 147, passed by the Ohio General Assembly and jointly sponsored by Patmon and state Rep. Lynn Wachtmann (R-Napoleon), requires all surgeons and those designated by surgeons to perform certain procedures to use a patient navigation system consistent with the standards used by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC). Also under the new state law, the NAPBC standards require a surgeon to inform the client if she is a candidate for breast reconstruction and to offer a preoperative referral to a reconstructive or plastic surgeon before consent is given by the patient.

The law is named 'The Lizzie B. Byrd Act' in recognition of Patmon’s mother’s own fight against breast cancer. She, like many other women, is a breast cancer survivor.

“It is a relief to know that every woman in Ohio will be notified of her options,” said Patmon, who is Black and a former Cleveland councilman. “No woman should choose death for fear of being left ‘half a woman’ due to a mastectomy when reconstructive options are available."

Patmon said that "my mother gave me many great gifts and I am honored to present this legislation to her.”

The Ohio Chapter of the American Cancer Society says that Sub. H.B. 147 could reach and assist the 15 percent of uninsured and uninformed women who suffer from breast cancer annually.

(www.clevelandurbannews.com) and (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com).