- Rebecca King Crews and her husband Terry Crews shared her diagnosis and decision to have focused ultrasound treatment.
- She plans to have the other side of her brain treated in the coming months and calls the technology “the new frontier of medicine.”
Rebecca King Crews, a singer and fashion designer, first noticed concerning numbness and coordination symptoms in 2012, which were initially dismissed as anxiety. However, after symptoms persisted, she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease three years later. She experienced significant tremors that made daily tasks like putting on makeup and brushing her teeth a challenge.
King Crews and her husband, Terry Crews, an actor and host of America’s Got Talent, appeared on the Today Show to share her diagnosis and results from her focused ultrasound treatment. After undergoing an MR‑guided focused ultrasound procedure using the FDA‑approved Exablate Neuro system (Insightec) at Stanford University, King Crews has noticed significant symptom relief on the treated side of her body. She noted, “I’m able to write my name and my dates, and I’m able to write with my right hand for the first time in probably three years.”
She plans to undergo a second focused ultrasound procedure on the other side of her brain in the coming months and calls focused ultrasound and other innovative procedures “the new frontier of medicine.”
Read the Article on People.com
*Note: The segment states that focused ultrasound for Parkinson’s disease is not yet covered by insurance, which is possibly misleading. Below is the current status for the various focused ultrasound procedures for Parkinson’s patients.
Symptom: Tremor (shaking)
Focused ultrasound pallidotomy targeting the ventral intermediate nucleus (or ‘VIM’) is FDA approved and:
• Covered by Medicare in 38 states: AK, AL, AZ, CA, CT, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NV, NY, OH, OR, RI, SC, SD, TN, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, and WY
• Also covered by some private insurers, including Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, MetroPlus Health Plan, PacificSource Health Plans, and Priority Health Michigan
Symptom: Dyskinesia (a broader family of motor symptoms, including bradykinesia, rigidity, and tremor)
Focused ultrasound targeting the internal portion of the globus pallidus (GPi) is FDA approved and:
• Covered by Medicare in 10 states: CT, IL, MA, ME, MN, NH, NY, RI, VT, and WI
• Also covered by some private insurers, including Anthem, Healthlink, and Unicare
Advanced Motor Symptoms (mobility, rigidity, dyskinesia)
Focused ultrasound targeting the palliothalamic tract (PTT) is not currently covered by insurance.
To learn more about where you can access focused ultrasound for Parkinson’s disease, see a list of treatment sites.