The man known as Ralph DeAngelo had just turned 70 when his wife spotted a local hospital’s newspaper ad for free prostate cancer screening, billed as a test that saves lives.
To appease her, he went for a free PSA test, and was mailed a letter stating that his results were “significantly abnormal.” In clockwork fashion, Ralph received12 biopsies, a cancer diagnosis, prostate removal, radiation, a hole between his rectum and his bladder, a colostomy. He died of a related urinary tract infection.