WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON -- Actress Marcia Cross says she has next to nothing in common with her Desperate Housewives character, Bree Van de Kamp.
So while her television alter ego might obsessively fret about sweater sets and her family's reputation on Wisteria Lane, Cross was lobbying on Capitol Hill yesterday on behalf of sick people she's never met.
Cross joined a group that included lawmakers, a Maryland breast cancer survivor and officials from women's cable network Lifetime to call on Congress to pass the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2007 and prevent what they called "drive-by mastectomies."
The legislation would require that insurers cover up to a 48-hour stay in a hospital after a woman has had a mastectomy if the doctor and patient deem it necessary. Currently, 20 states defer that decision to doctors and patients. Supporters of the bill say that means many of the estimated 90,000 women who have mastectomies each year are sent home within hours or a day after surgery.
"One in eight women are diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime," Cross said. "I've seen it up close and personally. I'm sorry to say I don't have a friend, but friends who've been diagnosed with breast cancer, and when I first heard about drive-by mastectomies I was shocked."
Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, an ovarian cancer survivor, first heard about the issue 12 years ago from a home-state oncologist, Dr. Kristin Zarfos, and has been pursuing legislation ever since. DeLauro, a Democrat, said its chances of passing have never been better because Democratic presidential contenders have made health care a prominent issue, and Democrats control Congress.
The House bill has 204 co-sponsors. The Senate version has 18. DeLauro planned to present lawmakers with a petition signed by 20 million on Lifetime's Web site, myLifetime. com. More specifically, she planned to present each member with the signatures of their constituents.
""I'll say, `These folks are from your district,'" she said. "Then I think we'll get a hearing, and then it will be hard to keep it off the floor. And I don't think many will want to vote against two extra days for women who have gone through something as traumatic as this surgery."
One name on the list is Lynn Bradley, who attended the news conference yesterday. The Towson native had a mastectomy three years ago. And while she praised her doctors at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, they weren't able to keep her from being released just under 23 hours after her surgery.
