I appreciate the sentiments raised by Martin D Leslie1 in his letter to this journal questioning the value of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). It is an undisputable fact that NICE would be unnecessary if the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency were allowed to take comparative efficacy linked to price into account in addition to quality, safety and efficacy. Consideration of comparative safety is permitted but not comparative efficacy in determining an application for a product licence. The savings would be considerable.
Declarations
Competing interests
None declared
Reference
- 1.Leslie MD. NICE: how much does it cost? J R Soc Med 2016; 109: 6–6. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]