Remembering Michael Rawlins: ‘A terrible beauty’

Michael Rawlins, who died Jan. 1 at the age of 81, has been celebrated as an intellectual giant and denigrated as a proponent of “death panels” for his role in shaping and leading NICE from its establishment in 1999 to 2013.

Widely respected for his ideas, Rawlins could have had a successful career without leaving Oxford or Cambridge. He was far more influential, however, because he stepped out of comfortable academic environments, applying erudition to vexing real life problems — and did so in an engaging manner. A knighthood, awarded in 1999, and leadership of prestigious institutions, didn’t make Rawlins pompous.  ...