VITAL SIGNS
Hospital autopsies a dying science
Private firms pick up slack as boomers seek answers; $3,500 postmortems
By Kristen Gerencher, MarketWatch
Last Update: 10:09 PM ET May 24, 2006
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The limited kind is less expensive, starting at $700 at PathServe, he said. Lung-tissue samples can be outsourced to pulmonologists to test for asbestos while brain work-ups go to neuropathology experts who look for diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, he said."The next of kin are quite interested in if it's Alzheimer's or not and what kind of Alzheimer's," Karp said.
The Alzheimer's Association in Chicago doesn't take a position on autopsies, said Dr. Maria Carrillo, director of medical and scientific relations.
Diagnosis of the early-onset form of Alzheimer's disease is fairly clear-cut, and family members can have genetic tests to see if they have a particular mutation, she said.
But the sporadic form that typically occurs after 65 is often more mysterious, Carrillo said. In that case, would she want an autopsy if it were someone in her family? "If I could afford the expense I would be interested in a definitive diagnosis because sometimes you can gain some additional information in the slight chance it was misdiagnosed."
What's more, Alzheimer's patients who participate in clinical trials often can get beneficial treatment while they're living and an exam for the family after they die, she said. "Many studies will offer an autopsy upon death because they would like to know definitively what the person's diagnosis was."
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Interesting. Just recently, I heard about a freind's wife being diagnoses with the Big A. Seems like to save a few bucks we are collectively getting dumb.
Sigh.
Reinke Faces Life 