Highlights from this issue
In the UK, new health technologies are assessed by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). NICE determines the cost incurred for each additional quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) that the new technology provides over and above the currently standard treatment. Though there is consider...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
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| Published: |
BMJ Publ.
2012
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| In: |
Journal of medical ethics
Year: 2012, Volume: 38, Issue: 5, Pages: 257 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | In the UK, new health technologies are assessed by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). NICE determines the cost incurred for each additional quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) that the new technology provides over and above the currently standard treatment. Though there is considerable flexibility in the process, technologies which offer a cost-per-QALY of £20 000-£30 000 or less would normally be recommended for use. The thought is that, given a fixed total health budget, use of technologies with a higher cost-per-QALY will generally decrease aggregate health by displacing more cost-effective interventions.One criticism levelled at NICE maintains that its methodology is ageist. Since younger people typically have a longer life expectancy than older people, a life-saving treatment will tend to produce more QALYs in a younger person. So too will a quality-of-life-improving intervention, since it will improve quality of life over a longer period. The NICE approach might be said to systematically favour younger people.In this issue, Stevens and collaborators (see page 258) respond … |
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| ISSN: | 1473-4257 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of medical ethics
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1136/medethics-2012-100711 |