|
Latest News
|
|
|
|
9/3/2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
NICE chairman questions patient access schemes
|
 |
|
The chairman of the National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence, Sir Michael Rawlins
|
The chairman of the National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence, Sir Michael Rawlins, has suggested that upfront discounts on new drugs may offer a simpler way to widen patient access to expensive medicines.
In an interview with the Financial Times, he said the present variety of patient access schemes designed by pharmaceutical companies to try to improve uptake of newer and more expensive products might not always be the best way.
“These schemes can sometimes be complicated for NHS trusts to implement due to factors such as difficulties of measurement or associated costs. In such cases, a simple discount may eliminate the need to put in place complicated schemes that require substantial management input,” he said.
Rawlins added that NICE, however, supported the use of patient access schemes because they could increase the cost-effectiveness of treatments, potentially helping patients to get treatment with costly products.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
More News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
