At first glance, it might appear that better access to so-called amyloid-PET scans could compensate for some of the racial inequities in Alzheimer’s disease, as Linda Goler Blount called for in a recent First Opinion essay. In theory, such scans should lead to more Black people — who are at higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s — being screened and having greater access to favorable treatment for their disease.
As researchers whose work focuses on PET scanning, including its application to Alzheimer’s disease, we fear that increased access to these scans will result in more misdiagnoses and more people being subjected to a new form of Alzheimer’s treatment that we believe is more harmful than beneficial.