Experiencing breast cancer at the workplace *

•We study how a woman's propensity to receive an annual mammography changes over time after a co-worker is diagnosed with breast cancer.•The probability of screening drops by 6 percentage points, off a base level of 70%.•The 6 points impact effect persists for at leat two years.•Possible underlying mechanisms and health policy implications are discussed.

We study a dynamic natural experiment involving nearly 3000 American women of age 50–64 to understand how a woman's propensity to receive an annual mammography changes over time after a co-worker is diagnosed with breast cancer. We find that in the year this event occurs the probability of screening drops by about 6 percentage points, off a base level of 70%. This impact effect is persistent for at least two years. Underlying mechanisms and implications for health policy are discussed.