Happygram
Directed by Julie Marron2019 80mDocumentary
9.3
Happygram explores the deadly impact of withholding material medical information from 40 million women who are screened for breast cancer each year by mammography. 40% of women who are screened have dense breast tissue, which is not only a risk factor for developing breast cancer, but it obscures cancer on a mammogram. Mammograms are an ineffective screening tool for women with dense breast tissue, and can miss up to 75% of invasive breast cancers in these women. Every year thousands of women die because their cancer was missed on a mammogram and their mammogram results were reported as 'normal,' or 'negative.' The false negative results letter sent to a woman with cancer became known as a 'Happygram.' This film explores the science behind mammography and the efforts of women advocates to require accurate reporting of mammogram results.
