For Alzheimer's, Detection Advances Outpace Treatment Options by Gina Kolata. The New York Times. November 15, 2012.
New brain scan technology for Alzheimer's is now available in over 300 hospitals across the nation. However since cures are far behind detection, several problems are evident: (1) Patients may be denied long-term health insurance if the plaques characteristic of Alzheimer's are detected. (2) Since detection of a disease without a cure is such a serious matter, doctors who read the scan results must pass a special test for competence. Only 700 doctors have been qualified thus far. (3) Once again due to the seriousness of diagnosis, the F.D.A. has forbid incorporation of clinical information in their interpretation of the scans to avoid the influence of subtle bias obtained from the information.
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