Screening Colonoscopies Surged Following Katie Couric's 2000 Show

The number of Americans having colonoscopies appears to have increased by 19 percent as the result of a TV anchor's efforts to promote the procedure as the best way of combating colorectal cancer, according to University of Michigan researchers.

The researchers reported that the surge in colonoscopies followed a a television show in March 2000, when NBC Today co-anchor Katie Couric, whose husband, Jay Monahan, died of colon cancer, underwent a colonoscopy.

The University of Michigan study of 400 endoscopists nationwide, as well as rates from a Midwestern managed-care organization, showed that a comparison of data for the 40 weeks after Couric's procedure to the 89 weeks prior to the show showed that the number of colonoscopies was up by 19 percent.

"Not only did Katie's TV campaign have an immediate impact, but the significant increase in screening rates remained long after the broadcast," reported study author Mark Fendrick.

Other sources: University of Michigan