The NICE Price of Life
The New York Times had a piece a few days ago describing the controversial history of NICE, Britain's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, which was "created a decade ago to ensure that every pound spent buys as many years of good-quality life as possible."
The agency has of late been increasingly rejecting expensive treatments, and the decisions in that regard that get the most attention are those involving new drugs. Any drug that provides an extra six months of good-quality life for £10,000 – about $15,000 – or less gets approved, while those that give six months for $22,750 or less might not get approved.
More expensive medicines have been approved only rarely, reports the Times, causing people to ask, "What price is life?"
[The Galen Institute recently sponsored a forum on this issue featuring German expert Dr. Michael Schlander. Here's a summary of that meeting.]
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