In response to a Light investigation of Marin’s long publicized but non-existent breast cancer cluster, Assemblyman Mark Levine has asked the California Department of Public Health to improve data collection for the state’s cancer registry. In a letter he hand-delivered last week to the department head, Karen Smith, he wrote that the registry is “one of the best” in the country but that the state needs to gather information on patient and survivor demographics, treatment types that patients receive and what insurance coverage they have. Noting that many medical facilities “are currently not reporting complete information to the registry” despite the fact that doing so is compulsory, he asked if additional legislation is needed. In the 11-part series, journalist Peter Byrne found that the so-called epidemic of breast cancer incidence in Marin among wealthy white women—at times hypothesized by the county to come from later-in-life pregnancy, alcohol use or hormone replacement therapy—was a statistical mirage resulting from greater access to health services. And though women of color suffer higher mortality rates from breast cancer, millions of dollars were spent studying the incidence of cancer in white women, the Light reported. The series also revealed the widespread errors and holes in the state’s cancer registry. Speaking with Mr. Byrne, Assemblyman Levine said the “series is eye-opening. Looking back, one wonders how do people get that so wrong?” He also remarked, “The Marin breast cancer cluster was a national story, so correcting it should get the same amount of press headlines.” Mr. Byrne said that many public officials have either not responded or declined to respond to repeated requests for comment on the series. Last week, Supervisor Steve Kinsey told him in an email that he and the director of Health and Human Services “agree that your work illuminates the need to be more questioning when information is presented as scientifically based and urgent.” Yet he also defended the county’s intentions. “…I know the depth of concern and determination that has been at the core of our department’s response to the higher rates state agencies reported to us,” he wrote. “As you pointed out repeatedly, Marin County’s work was a piece of the much larger global attention paid to breast cancer and the self-interest of those involved at many levels.” He said that he would ask the health department to “correct the public perception as warranted, and encourage future research to be more questioning initially.” Mr. Byrne said he was pleased with Supervisor Kinsey’s response, though he said he would also urge county officials to acknowledge that data was cherry-picked for use in the Marin Women’s Study.