ICER has come out with a response to what it defines as myths about it’s funding, approach and mission. The rejoinder is an excellent example of President Kennedy’s observation that “the great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.”
ICER wants to be perceived as trusted non profit organization that is identifying the best medicines at prices patients can afford. As ICER puts it: “How can we make sure that we can afford the innovation we want for patients in the future?”
And it believes, led by Steve Pearson, ICER’s believer in chief, tha unless ICER rolls up their sleeves to determine the prices of new medicines and who should get them drug spending “would contribute to an increase in overall health care costs at a rate greater than growth in the overall national economy, (and) health system value would be diminished.”
ICER’s publication takes issue with several so-called myths. Some of them address criticism about their belief that an additional year of life is at maximum worth $150K. Another deals with how little ICER includes patient perspectives of health value. I will deal with those in another post.
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