Q: Angelina Jolie is in the news for her decision to have a double mastectomy so her children will not fear her dying with breast cancer. This reduces her risk, but won't her children carry the gene and face the same risk? Also, although her risk of breast cancer will be less, isn't there a chance that she could develop cancer elsewhere in her body? — Liz Wagoner, Cartersville
A: Jolie, an Academy Award-winning actress, has said she has a 50 percent chance of ovarian cancer, but she had the double mastectomy because she said her chance at developing breast cancer was at 87 percent. In Jolie's case, there is a family history of cancer. Her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, battled ovarian cancer for nearly a decade before dying in 2007 at 56 years old, and an aunt died from the disease last month. Jolie has three biological children and three adopted children. Jolie underwent genetic counseling before her decision, The New York Times reported, because she carries the rare cancer-causing BRCA gene. About 30 percent of women who have BRCA mutations choose preventive mastectomies, The Times reported.
Q: Has anyone ever been prosecuted for violating the National Do Not Call Registry? — Chuck Ellet, Dunwoody
A: The Federal Trade Commission has brought 101 legal cases against companies, including Talbots, DirecTV and Dish Network, since 2009. The cases have yielded $117 million in fines, and defrauded consumers have recovered $28.2 million, according to the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News. The FTC received 3.8 million complaints in the past fiscal year and encourages people to continue reporting violators.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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