BODY WATCH : Q & A : Fighting for the Rights of Cancer Patients

Last April, the directors of the California Women’s Law Center in Los Angeles founded a program for women with breast cancer because “we realized that there is very little recognition of the legal issues that impact women with breast cancer, from the fight to get bone-marrow transplants to access to care for poor women to employment discrimination,” says Susan Fogel, a staff attorney at the nonprofit center.

“We had one woman trying to rent an apartment, and when she told the manager she had breast cancer, the apartment was no longer available.”

Because of a lack of funding, the legal clinic was designed to be staffed by law school students and volunteer attorneys, but the center wanted to do more. Then, Fogel says, “Tracey Jensen landed on our doorstep.”

Jensen, 26, is a winner of a prestigious Skadden Arps Fellowship, which will pay her salary for two years as she sets up the clinic. A graduate of Wellesley College, she is a third-year law student at USC.

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Question: How did you become interested in breast cancer patients?

Answer: My great aunt has breast cancer, and I have a great uncle with cancer, but cancer seems to impact women more.

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Q: Why did you become interested in the Skadden Arps Fellowship?

A: I knew I wanted to do public-interest work. I was doing an internship at the California Women’s Law Center and I asked (the director) if I could apply for the fellowship to pay for my salary. Skadden Arps is a large law firm and they provide the funding for students to do public-interest projects of their choice. I applied and they selected 25 students throughout the country.

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Q: Why do breast cancer patients need this program?

A: It’s so overwhelming to have cancer. A lot of women don’t know they have legal issues related to breast cancer. While these women are trying to fight for their lives, they have so many other issues that I don’t know how they can concentrate on getting well.

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Q: Where are most of the disputes?

A: There are certainly a lot with insurers, but I think they are starting to get the message that breast cancer patients don’t deserve second-class treatment. For other women, there is a problem of just getting insurance. A lot of private insurers won’t insure a woman unless she has been free of cancer for at least five years. There is a state program in existence (for those who don’t qualify for private insurance), but most women aren’t aware of it.

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Q: Are insurers surprised when a breast cancer patient says she has an attorney?

A: There is a program like ours in New York City. They told me they have never had to go to trial because once insurance companies are advised that an attorney is on the matter, they turn around and cover the woman.

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Q: How popular do you expect this program to be?

A: The problem has been that the center is waiting for enough funding to be able to provide these (legal) services. They’ll have me full time in August to provide some coordination.

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Q: How has this experience influenced your plans?

A: I went to law school knowing I wanted to do public-interest work, providing advocacy for underrepresented persons or groups. This is, by far, the best agency. I was so intimidated by these women at the California Women’s Law Center the first and second years (of law school) that I didn’t even apply for an internship. I finally got my confidence up to apply. I have learned a great deal here. The women have great backgrounds and are very knowledgeable.