Medicare May Fund Brain Scans for Alzheimer’s Research

Scientific American: If scientists had a test to confirm Alzheimer’s disease, would that have changed the outcome for some treatments that failed to pass scientific muster in clinical trials? Would such a test open doors for future treatments? Alzheimer’s researchers hoping to explore these questions had mixed reactions last week after Medicare recommended that the national health plan for the elderly and disabled only pay for a controversial $3,000 test that detects brain plaque linked to Alzheimer’s in several specific instances—including clinical trials that seek better treatment for the disease.

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