Commentary on 'A roadmap for the prevention of dementia II: Leon Thal Symposium 2008.' A proposal to increase participation in Alzheimer's disease clinical trials

Among the many contributions of Leon Thal to the field of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research was his leadership in developing the clinical trial network required for accelerating the testing of new potential therapies. He co-founded the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study to serve the public need for promising new treatments for AD [1]. The Leon Thal Symposium, held in December 2008, was structured around five major public policy initiatives designed to advance the study of new therapeutics for AD. Participants in the symposium were charged with formulating specific recommendations for an action plan for the Alzheimer’s Study Group (ASG). The final recommendations will be used by the ASG as part of the National Strategic Plan for Alzheimer’s, which will be forwarded to the 111th U.S. Congress [2]. We propose in this commentary that recommendations for the strategic plan include the Medicare program to increase public awareness of AD clinical trials and provide information on how potential study participants can enter AD clinical trials. (Medicare is the largest U.S. health insurance program and covers nearly 40 million Americans. It is for people aged 65 years or older, some disabled people younger than age 65, and people with end-stage renal disease.)