At 15:54 03/03/2012 +0000, Kornbrot, Diana wrote:
>Briefly MHRA is SAFETY, irrespective of cost
>NICE is COST EFFECTIVENES and evaluates Quality of Life Years relative to
>cost
That's is essentially a reasonable summary, but it's important to realise
that this does not always mean quite what the 'bad press' received by NICE
often seems to imply. There are cases in which NICE has recommended a more
expensive treatment (usually on the basis of more QALYs relative to cost)
rather than one that is commonly used at least partially because of its
lower cost. Indeed, elimination of the 'postcode lottery' is part of
NICE's mission statement. Nor, as is a common misconception, do NICE
generally give any consideration to 'collateral' implications (e.g. the
impact of the cost of treating one disease on the NHS's ability to treat
other diseases). Hence, if the only treatment(s) available for a certain
disease are extremely expensive, that would not usually result in NICE
recommending their not being made available, provided that they are happy
that the treatment(s) are reasonably effective. The most contentious, and
most publicised, cases are usually in relation to very expensive treatments
of uncertain effectiveness.
Kind Regards,
John
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