“I went to my Legislative Council and said, ‘Listen, I need to make an adjustment to the original bill. I think it’s important that, if we’re going to take this step to provide women with an opportunity to look at choices that would be best for her, and for her quality of life, that this be included as well.’” —Rhode Island State Rep. Camille Vella-Wilkinson

In July 2022, Rhode Island passed into law a bill directing insurance companies to pay for uterine artery embolization (UAE) in the treatment of fibroids. In this episode of the Kinked Wire, host Warren Krackov, MD, FSIR, speaks with Rhode Island State Rep. Camille Vella-Wilkinson about why she worked to add UAE to the bill, why the topic is so important, and how she learned about interventional radiology in the first place.

The Society of Interventional Radiology thanks SIR members Theresa M. Caridi, MD, FSIR, and John C. Lipman, MD, FSIR, for participating in the bill signing ceremony as well.
 
Related resources:

• Read the SIR Member Alert on the bill signing
• SIR Fibroid Fix page
• SIR Advocacy page
• Council of State Governments
• National Council of State Legislators
• Read press release about how Dr. Lipman helped model and actress Cynthia Bailey-Hill with her uterine fibroids

Note: This episode was recorded on  Aug. 12, 2022.

Contact us with your ideas and questions, or read more about about interventional radiology in IR Quarterly magazine or SIR's Patient Center.

(c) Society of Interventional Radiology.

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