TV doctor Ellen Pompeo criticized by real doctors for giving inaccurate advice about ovarian cancer screening
- Ellen Pompeo, who plays Dr Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy, appeared in a segment raising money for breast cancer on The Ellen Show
- An audience member shared a story about a friend who died of ovarian cancer
- Pompeo took the mic and added that she’d just heard ‘a simple ultrasound’ can ‘catch’ ovarian cancer ‘and you can live’
- High profile OB/GYN Dr Jen Gunter responded with a blog post explaining that despite attempts, there is no way to detect ovarian cancer
- She accused Pompeo of spreading false information to 4m+ viewers
- Pompeo retweeted a critique, insisting she just wants to start a conversation
Ellen Pompeo has caused a stir after turning from TV doctor to real doctor with some well-meaning, but ultimately off-the-mark, advice about ovarian cancer.
The actress went off-script during a segment with Ellen DeGeneres on Wednesday, to tell viewers that she’d heard ‘all it takes is a simple ultrasound’ to detect the disease.
However, within moments, her words had drawn the ire of OB/GYNs on Twitter, who warned that ultrasounds often fail to pick up the ‘silent killer’, which remains one of deadliest illnesses in women because it is so hard to identify in its early stages.
Advice: Ellen Pompeo took the mic during a breast cancer segment and added that she’d just heard ‘a simple ultrasound’ can ‘catch’ ovarian cancer ‘and you can live’
Pompeo plays Dr Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy, which just launched its 15th season
Pompeo’s words came after an on-air auction to go on a Starbucks date with two audience members, and match their donations to breast cancer charities.
The two winners explained why they felt passionate about the cause, and one of them said a loved-one had died of ovarian cancer after breast cancer.
Pompeo, visibly moved by the anecdote, took the mic to say: ‘I just recently heard – and I did not know this – that ovarian cancer, all it takes is a simple ultrasound to detect it.
‘And when you go to the doctor, health insurance won’t pay for the ultrasound.
‘You have to ask for an ultrasound. So when you go to the doctor for your mammograms or your check-ups, make sure you ask for the ultrasound because ovarian cancer is not detected otherwise.
‘It’s a simple ultrasound and you can catch it and live.’
Fans praised Pompeo for bringing light to the complexities of health insurance, and how that may limit the scope of your cancer screenings.
But some accused Pompeo of giving women false hope because, to this day, there is no cut-and-dry way to catch ovarian cancer.
High profile OB/GYN Dr Jen Gunter responded with a blog post explaining that despite attempts, there is no way to detect ovarian cancer
Dr Raphael Sharon, a Canadian pediatrician, tweeted Dr Gunter’s blog post, urging Pompeo to set the record straight
Of all forms of cancer, ovarian is among the most notoriously difficult to spot.
It affects 7,400 British women and 22,240 American women every year, and kills 4,100 Brits and 14,070 Americans. Two thirds are diagnosed in the latest, harder-to-cure stages.
Symptoms masquerade as other common ailments – bloating, constipation, fatigue, cramps – and screening methods such as Pap smears, pelvic exams and ultrasounds are rudimentary at best.
In fact, ovarian cancer is so elusive that it has become a target for a new wave of health start-ups, racing to find detection methods. None have reached it yet.
One of the start-ups is NextGen Jane, a company that aims to diagnose uterine conditions by testing blood from women’s tampons, that they would mail in to the lab instead of going to their OB/GYN for a check-up.
Their aim is to test for all kinds of things, from endometriosis (when the uterus lining breaks off and moves to other parts of the body) to fertility.
But ovarian cancer would be ‘the holy grail’, founder Ridhi Tariyal, a biomedical engineer who studied at Harvard and MIT, told DailyMail.com.
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Pompeo, 48, made clear that she is behind these doctors by retweeting Dr Sharon
As Pompeo learned the hard way, the mystery of ovarian cancer is a hot topic in medical circles – and suggesting otherwise will earn a hefty stream of clap backs.
Dr Jen Gunter, the OB/GYN and New York Times columnist known for fact-checking Gwyneth Paltrow, tweeted: ‘Ultrasound does not screen for ovarian cancer. You just gave 4 million+ people incorrect medical information. This is exactly how fake medical news spreads.’
In an accompanying blog post, Dr Gunter explained that she believed Pompeo ‘was speaking earnestly, but well-meaning misinformation is still misinformation and it harms just the same.’
She warns: ‘There is a phenomenon called the illusory truth effect — the more you are exposed to incorrect information the more likely you are to believe it. Even one exposure to incorrect information can prime you to believe fake news, so the potential for harm from a short segment like this is real.’
Dr Raphael Sharon, a Canadian pediatrician, tweeted her blog, saying that Pompeo gave ‘well-meaning (but INCORRECT) advice’ on ovarian cancer, adding that he hopes the actress and the show ‘can set record straight publicly.’
Pompeo, 48, who has just completed the 15th season of Grey’s Anatomy, in which she plays Dr Meredith Grey, made clear that she is behind these doctors.
She retweeted Dr Sharon, saying: ‘Important!!!!Thanks for the correction !! I would love to hear any other real docs also chime in on this’
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