Making effective decisions in health care requires a thorough understanding of the patient perspective, as well as robust, precise measures of response to therapy. The Patient Access & Affordability Project evaluates the various frameworks used to assess and demonstrate the value of new treatments to ensure that the patient is kept at the center of health care decisions.
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The Conversation
Last Word: ICER’s unsound methods and conclusions on lupus nephritis treatments
On April 16, 2021, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) released its final evidence report on two new treatments for lupus nephritis: Benlysta (manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline) and Lupkynis (Aurinia Pharmaceuticals). In the report, ICER claims to have...
A Better Way: Replacing the QALY with a true, patient-centered quality-of-life measure
After years of perpetually rising healthcare costs – not to mention a worldwide pandemic – many elected officials and policymakers – at both the state and federal level – are looking for ways to bring down the cost of public health programs. More and more often, these...
Recommended Reading: The pandemic will end at your local pharmacy — if we let it
by Rick Gates, Rich Tremonte, & Robert Popovian The date when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, Dec. 11, 2020, was a seminal moment in human achievement. Never had a safe and effective vaccine...
Recommended Reading: We Need Greater Transparency to Improve the U.S. Healthcare System
By Robert Popovian and Wayne Winegarden The time has come for us to think about incremental, evolutionary, and targeted changes to the healthcare system to reduce costs rather than focusing on grand bargains. It is time for practical solutions that will likely have...
Something is Rotten in the State of Colorado
Last month, members of the Colorado General Assembly introduced a bill intended to lower prescription drug costs in the state. The legislation (Senate Bill 21-175) would create a Prescription Drug Affordability Review Board to set payment caps on drugs deemed to be...
Last Word: ICER’s flawed pricing recommendations for new high cholesterol treatments
On the March 2, 2021, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) released its final evidence report on three emerging treatments for high cholesterol patients: inclisiran (Novartis), bempedoic acid and bempedoic acid/ezetimibe (Esperion Therapeutics). Not...