U.K. researchers: NICE's QALY threshold is too high

Researchers from the University of York's Centre for Health Economics published a paper that concludes the L30,000 ($46,233) cost-effectiveness threshold used by the U.K.'s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to appraise new drugs is too high and results in a net loss of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) for patients across the NHS.

The paper's authors concluded that the threshold should be about L13,000 ($20,034). Coverage of more costly drugs would result in a net loss of QALYs by diverting NHS resources that could be used for other drugs or services, the authors said. The paper's lead author, York professor of economics Karl Claxton, is a longtime proponent of using QALYs to determine the cost-effectiveness of drugs. ...