NICE and the challenge of cancer drugs
NICE and the challenge of cancer drugs
New drugs for cancer are posing problems for the United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and similar agencies internationally. The high price of these drugs is not always accompanied by commensurate improvements in health,1 and their cost effectiveness (usually measured as cost per quality adjusted life year (QALY)) is consequently poor.
The decisions to allow NHS use of trastuzumab (Herceptin) and imatinib (Glivec) pushed NICE’s cost effectiveness threshold above its notional £30 000 (34 000; $46 000) per QALY.2 These decisions took place against a background of legal action by patients, attendant publicity, and political discomfort.
In the second half of last year NICE provisionally rejected six cancer drugs on grounds of their high cost per QALY. When it became clear that patients who wished to purchase these drugs privately would be denied free NHS care, a political crisis became likely.
Raftery, J.
27c2661d-6c4f-448a-bf36-9a89ec72bd6b
13 January 2009
Raftery, J.
27c2661d-6c4f-448a-bf36-9a89ec72bd6b
Abstract
New drugs for cancer are posing problems for the United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and similar agencies internationally. The high price of these drugs is not always accompanied by commensurate improvements in health,1 and their cost effectiveness (usually measured as cost per quality adjusted life year (QALY)) is consequently poor.
The decisions to allow NHS use of trastuzumab (Herceptin) and imatinib (Glivec) pushed NICE’s cost effectiveness threshold above its notional £30 000 (34 000; $46 000) per QALY.2 These decisions took place against a background of legal action by patients, attendant publicity, and political discomfort.
In the second half of last year NICE provisionally rejected six cancer drugs on grounds of their high cost per QALY. When it became clear that patients who wished to purchase these drugs privately would be denied free NHS care, a political crisis became likely.
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Published date: 13 January 2009
Organisations:
Medicine
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Local EPrints ID: 147823
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/147823
ISSN: 0959-8138
PURE UUID: 4cf8d85f-9870-49ce-9e21-1b964ea80086
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Date deposited: 26 Apr 2010 13:46
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 01:00
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