The Oncofertility Consortium® is excited to announce that one of our postdoctoral fellows, Lisa Campo-Engelstein, has published an article in the March 2010 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The article, titled “Including Fertility Preservation Treatment: Consistency and Fairness in Insurance Coverage for Iatrogenic Conditions Resulting from Cancer Treatment,” explores the issue of insurance coverage for fertility preservation for cancer patients.
In the article, Dr. Campo-Engelstein discusses how insurance companies currently cover treatment for iatrogenic conditions resulting from cancer treatment that could be perceived as elective when “naturally” occurring, such as breast reconstruction following mastectomy and wigs for alopecia. Looking at female cancer patients, Dr. Campo-Engelstein explores similarities between these iatrogenic conditions and iatrogenic infertility. She argues that, because treatment for iatrogenic infertility does not differ in morally significant ways from treatment for these other iatrogenic conditions that are covered, then it should also be covered if insurance companies want to maintain consistency and promote fairness.
A PDF of the article can be downloaded here
To access the article online through the Journal of Clinical Oncology website, click here