a new study is revealing a scary trend in this country. the number of americans getting routine cancer screenings has dropped over the past decade. a common test, seeing the drop often include mammograms for breast cancer, pap tests for cervical cancer and colonoscopies for colon and rec call cancer. so why are more americans skipping these life-saving tests? we have a doctor that is the chairman of the department of medicine at newark beth israel medical center and he joins us now with more. thank you for joining us. >> thank you, heather. great to be here. heather: why are more people skipping these screenings? >> i think it is a question of economy for one thing. i think the tests are costly. there is also secondarily confusion among physicians what to do, what to scan, what tests and how often they should be performed. for example, let's take breast and mammography. a lot of physicians are confused about that. mammography should be done after age 50 and up to age 74 on a yearly basis.