U.S. Medicare panel questions PET scan cancer data

BALTIMORE (Reuters) - A U.S. Medicare advisory panel on Wednesday expressed doubts that industry-sponsored data on the use of PET scans to diagnose and evaluate nine cancers could apply more widely to other cancers.

The panel of outside experts also said it did not have a lot of confidence that patient data gathered from a national registry showed positron emission tomography (PET) scans could help doctors make better decisions or improve patients' condition.

Medicare, which provides health insurance for 44 million elderly or disabled patients, is seeking the panel's advice before deciding whether to ease payment restrictions that could allow wider use of the scans.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, editing by Gerald E. McCormick.)