Whole-body health scans—which feel a bit like a nicer version of what you go through at airport security, if TSA also drew your blood—have been gaining traction in recent years, backed by consumer interest in preventative health, improving artificial intelligence capabilities and, in some cases, splashy celebrity endorsements.
Advocates maintain the scans can detect potential problems before a patient might have otherwise been diagnosed by a doctor.Â
The medical community, however, is far from unanimous on the benefits of such screenings, which doctors warn can both miss things—giving patients a false sense of security that can make them overlook symptoms of disease—as well as deliver false positives that can lead to unnecessary doctor visits, biopsies, anxiety and additional expenses, overwhelming public-health systems with needless consultations.
this feels like a great idea until you think about false positives. more scans don’t just find real problems, they also find a lot of harmless stuff that turns into stress, extra tests, and unnecessary procedures, for a small group this might be useful, but at scale it can actually overload the system and patients
the real question isn’t can we detect more, it’s whether detecting more actually improves outcomes or just increases anxiety
Leptonshavenocolor on
As someone who died from a hear attack with no real symptoms leading up to the event, I approve. As someone who is always suspect of anyone selling an all-encompassing medical solution, I am dubious.
MachetteBagels on
Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t we typically avoid full body scans because they can riddled with false positives, leading medical teams on rabbit hunts leading nowhere?
Dariaskehl on
Please tell me they retained Richard Kind for the advertising, at least!
gatoStephen on
If it finds something you’re on pharmaceutical side effects for life.
ashoka_akira on
Most likely they will just sell your health data to insurance companies so they can game your coverage.
Oh you want your get a mortgage? Your health data says you have a high potential of developing heart disease in the next decade so we can’t approve your loan.
VitoXzX on
Let me correct for you: …Scans as the future of a huge number of false positives for innumerable diseases, making patients get treated for things they shouldn’t****
You’re welcome
Danskoesterreich on
They should explain how many unnecessary colonoscopies and surgeries this will create.
9 Comments
*More From Bloomberg News Reporter Sabela Ojea*
Whole-body health scans—which feel a bit like a nicer version of what you go through at airport security, if TSA also drew your blood—have been gaining traction in recent years, backed by consumer interest in preventative health, improving artificial intelligence capabilities and, in some cases, splashy celebrity endorsements.
Advocates maintain the scans can detect potential problems before a patient might have otherwise been diagnosed by a doctor.Â
The medical community, however, is far from unanimous on the benefits of such screenings, which doctors warn can both miss things—giving patients a false sense of security that can make them overlook symptoms of disease—as well as deliver false positives that can lead to unnecessary doctor visits, biopsies, anxiety and additional expenses, overwhelming public-health systems with needless consultations.
[Read the full story here ](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-27/spotify-co-founder-is-behind-body-scan-startup-competing-with-prenuvo)
this feels like a great idea until you think about false positives. more scans don’t just find real problems, they also find a lot of harmless stuff that turns into stress, extra tests, and unnecessary procedures, for a small group this might be useful, but at scale it can actually overload the system and patients
the real question isn’t can we detect more, it’s whether detecting more actually improves outcomes or just increases anxiety
As someone who died from a hear attack with no real symptoms leading up to the event, I approve. As someone who is always suspect of anyone selling an all-encompassing medical solution, I am dubious.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t we typically avoid full body scans because they can riddled with false positives, leading medical teams on rabbit hunts leading nowhere?
Please tell me they retained Richard Kind for the advertising, at least!
If it finds something you’re on pharmaceutical side effects for life.
Most likely they will just sell your health data to insurance companies so they can game your coverage.
Oh you want your get a mortgage? Your health data says you have a high potential of developing heart disease in the next decade so we can’t approve your loan.
Let me correct for you: …Scans as the future of a huge number of false positives for innumerable diseases, making patients get treated for things they shouldn’t****
You’re welcome
They should explain how many unnecessary colonoscopies and surgeries this will create.