Une approche pragmatique pour gérer les traitements onéreux

Chroniques génomiques

A pragmatic approach to managing expensive therapies

UMR 7268 ADÉS, Aix-Marseille, Université/EFS/CNRS, Espace éthique méditerranéen, hôpital d’adultes la Timone, 264, rue Saint-Pierre, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France ; CoReBio PACA, case 901, parc scientifique de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09, France

^a bertrand.jordan@univ-amu.fr
^b brjordan@orange.fr

Abstract

Inflated drug prices necessarily raise the issue of rational allocation of health care resources. The system operated by the NICE agency in the UK attempts to do this by calculating the cost per quality-adjusted life year gained (QALY) and recommending funding only for drugs whose cost per QALY falls under a certain threshold. The whole process is documented in detail and easily accessible, and often results in significant discounts on drug prices. Given that some kind of rationing of health care is inevitable, the rational and transparent process followed by NICE has a number of positive features.