Heated and controversial debate is raging over a new guidelines report about annual mammograms.
The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force says women should start getting screened for breast cancer starting at age 50, not 40.
Local and national medical official say, that's irresponsible, dangerous, and just like telling people not to look both ways before crossing the street.
Linda Lawrence, the medical director for McLaren's Imaging Center, says "This is going to be a step back for women."
She says the new study is flawed. There's a big difference between the older film screen mammography and the new digital mammography.
The digital images are clearer and brighter.
Lawrence says, the new guidelines are based on the older technology.
"They did not use the latest technology in using digital equipment to look at this data."
The new guidelines say women under 50 often receive false positive reports of breast cancer, resulting in unnecessary biopsies.
Lawrence says, while the test isn't perfect, many studies show digital mammography is superior in detecting breast cancer in women younger than 50 years old.
"We have such advances in the last 10 or 20 years at detecting cancer in such smaller and smaller size."
Advocates of the new guidelines say it's simply a research into the facts and precautions.
Dr. Diana Petitti from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, says "This is not about whether to be screened. It's about how often to be screened and what age to start being screened. It's a balance of benefits and harms."
Those researchers also say, finding tumors early doesn't always translate into saving lives and that the evidence speaks for itself.
However, local health officials say they hear the concerns from the patients themselves.
Lawrence says, "Just this week I had a woman come at age 64. She had a mammogram a year ago. This year, she had a finding. It was not there a year ago. I told her, under these new guideline she would not have been in this year and she could have had something larger."
It's a debate that's sure to rage on for years to come.
The American Cancer Society, along with many local health officials, still encourage women to have an annual mammogram starting at age 40.
