Dr. Amar Rewari in Slate: The Case for Honesty About Whole-Body MRIs and Cancer Blood Tests

Dr. Amar Rewari authored an opinion piece for Slate examining a question he increasingly hears in clinic: should healthy people pay out of pocket for whole-body MRI scans and multi-cancer blood tests?

The article uses actress Busy Philipps' recent experience as a starting point. Philipps paid for a whole-body Prenuvo scan despite her primary care physician advising against it, and the scan led to the discovery of a malignant brain tumor. Dr. Rewari acknowledges the power of that outcome while walking readers through why the evidence still doesn't support these tests for most asymptomatic people — including high rates of incidental and false-positive findings that lead to repeat imaging, biopsies, expense, and months of anxiety.

He also writes candidly about his own family. With a mother in her late 70s reporting vague symptoms, he describes the pull toward ordering a scan he knows the guidelines don't recommend, and admits that knowing the evidence doesn't make anyone immune to fear.

The piece closes with two arguments: that consumer screening companies should be required to disclose FDA status, false-positive rates, follow-up costs, and whether a test has actually been shown to reduce cancer deaths; and that the growth of a pay-to-know screening market risks deepening existing inequities, at a time when proven prevention like HPV vaccination and colorectal cancer screening remains badly underused.

Dr. Rewari's broader point for patients: before considering an investigational scan, make sure the established screenings your doctor already recommends are up to date.