Former CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield spent the 1980s fighting the HIV/AIDS crisis at a time when federal health authorities actively resisted routine testing — arguing that since there was no cure, patients had a right to remain ignorant. He watched that logic cost lives. Writing in the Boston Globe, he argues that the same flawed thinking now stands in the way of early Alzheimer's screening, and we cannot afford to learn the same lesson twice. Read the full piece here →

From the Boston Globe, by Robert R. Redfield:

"Today, I hear the same argument about Alzheimer's disease. Why tell people they have the disease if there is no cure? The argument against early diagnosis is as absurd for Alzheimer's as it was for HIV."

"Every American over 50 should have access to Alzheimer's screening as part of routine preventive care. Positive tests should be paired with standardized cognitive assessments so physicians can determine what stage of disease the patient is in and take action based on those results."

"When my critics argued that HIV patients had a right not to know, they were really denying patients the opportunity to act. We eventually learned that ignorance was not compassion. We should not have to learn that lesson twice."

Dr. Redfield's op-ed in the Boston Globe is a clear-eyed call to stop treating Alzheimer's diagnosis as something to fear — and to start treating it as the first step toward action.

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