Medicare advisory panel skeptical of brain-plaque scans

(Reuters) – A Medicare advisory panel on Wednesday expressed skepticism that brain scans using radioactive imaging agents can affect health outcomes of people with early symptoms of memory and cognitive problems. The medical panel’s lack of confidence could deter reimbursement for Eli Lilly’s recently approved Amyvid, an imaging agent used to detect levels in the brain of plaque made from beta amyloid protein. The plaque is considered by many researchers to be a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. (Reporting By Ransdell Pierson; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)