Medicare Panel Finds Little Support For Amyloid PET Imaging Changes

Article preview from "The Gray Sheet" - February 04, 2013

MedCAC panel has limited confidence that there is enough evidence to show beta amyloid positron emission tomography imaging of the brain changes health outcomes. The vote does not bode well for the technology’s coverage proposal due in July.

Medicare Panel Finds Little Support For Amyloid PET Imaging Changes

Article preview from "The Gray Sheet" - February 04, 2013

A Medicare advisory panel could not find adequate evidence to conclude that beta amyloid positron emission tomography imaging of brain beta amyloid changes health outcomes in patients who display early symptoms or signs of cognitive dysfunction.

CMS convened the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee at its Baltimore headquarters on Jan. 30 to review the available evidence on beta amyloid PET imaging for the management of dementia and neurodegenerative disease, such as Alzheimer’s disease, and consider possibly revising the relevant national Medicare coverage policy.

Certain PET tracers, such as Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Inc.’s FDA-approved Amyvid (florbetapir), allow imaging of beta amyloid plaque in the brain, which some studies suggest could inform the clinical management of patients with cognitive impairment under evaluation for possible Alzheimer’s disease.

The Medicare agency does not currently cover beta amyloid PET imaging. Some applications of PET with radioisotopes are subject to coverage-with-evidence-development policies, while others are nationally noncovered.

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