Men who have to pay for prostate screening tests are not being discriminated against, even though women get many cancer screenings for free, the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal ruled Thursday.
Lawrence Armstrong brought a complaint before the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal against the province's Health Ministry over its refusal to pay for a test known as the PSA, or prostate specific antigen, which costs about $30.
He claimed men were discriminated against on the basis of their gender because women don't have to pay for mammograms, which screen for breast cancer, or Pap smears, which screen for cervical cancer.
Tribunal member Kurt Neuenfeldt chose to dismiss the claim Thursday, citing questions about how useful the PSA test is as a general method of prostate cancer screening.
Neuenfeldt determined that "the decision to fund cancer screening tests for women, but not for men, is not based on the fact Mr. Armstrong is male, but on the questionable scientific support for the efficacy of PSA screening as a population-wide screening device and its consequences."
The B.C. Ministry of Health says that PSA tests are covered if a doctor determines that the test is medically necessary. Armstrong had no symptoms of prostate cancer and told the hearing his doctors had told him since he was in his mid-40s that he should take the test.
After hearing from a long list of witnesses, many of them doctors, Neuenfeldt acknowledged that "the medical and epidemiological science as to the usefulness of PSA screening is complex and, at times, counterintuitive."
But he concluded that the "differential treatment is based on the characteristics of the PSA test and its consequences."
The PSA test is a blood test that detects and follows the progress of prostate cancer. While this antigen is normally found in small quantities in the blood, prostate problems such as cancer can cause PSA levels to rise.
According to the Canadian Cancer Society, all men over the age of 50 should discuss with their doctor the potential benefits and risks of early cancer detection using PSA and digital rectal examinations.
It notes, though, that research currently shows that the risks of PSA testing may outweigh the benefits in screening men at average risk of developing prostate cancer. That's because the test has a high rate of false-positive results, which can lead to unnecessary, invasive follow-up testing.
The Cancer Society concludes that for men who do not have symptoms of prostate cancer, PSA screening does not save lives.
