Happygram (2015)

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.