Actress Catherine Bell, who may be best known for her role in the television series J.A.G., is a thyroid cancer survivor and celebrity spokesperson for The Thyroid Cancer Survivors Association, ThyCa. Bell is featured in ThyCa's Thyroid Cancer Awareness patient brochure, where she shares her own thyroid cancer survivor story and highlights the importance of learning about the disease and the resources available for thyroid cancer patients.

In 1989, Catherine Bell was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. As part of her treatment, she underwent surgery and makes no effort to hide the thyroidectomy scar at the base of her neck. Bell is quoted as saying, "I think it's kinda cool. I'm living proof that early detection and treatment work." In addition, Bell has made no effort to conceal the fact that she is a Scientologist. As Mary Shomon, About.com thyroid guide points out, "a group that is actively fighting against key sectors of the medical community, namely the mental health and psychiatry community."

My understanding into the philosophy and beliefs of Scientologists regarding the medical community's use of prescription drugs begin and end with Tom Cruise's rather passionate outburst during his interview with Matt Lauer last year over the discussion of psychiatry, and Cruise's public attack of Brooke Shields for taking antidepressants for postpartum depression. Shomon, who presents her concerns in much more depth than I do for her here, raises questions over the vision of the thyroid organization's choice of celebrity spokesperson. To date, ThyCa has refused to answer Shoman's requests for a comment on this issue, and concludes by saying, "This leaves me to assume that ThyCa is hoping that no one besides me notices that one of the nation's most prominent Scientologists is on the cover of their patient brochure." Do you think it matters that Bell, as a thyroid cancer survivor chosen as a spokesperson for a thyroid cancer organization, is also a Scientologist?