The absence of government regulation in the US has left pharmaceutical companies free to set their own prices based on a number of market considerations. Historically, these have included not only ingredient, research and development costs, but also advertising, the drug's marginal...

Although the advantages of disseminating health information on the world wide web are well recognized, there has been considerable concern about the quality of online information. There has also been some debate as to whether organizations with a vested interest in a product, such as...

Specialty pharmacy service (SPS) companies are filling a new niche in the expanding role of chronic disease management (DM). These companies distribute expensive biotechnology drugs to patients who have relatively uncommon but very expensive chronic diseases. Although there are considerable...

The Internet has changed healthcare practice and has just begun to influence pharmaceutical consumers and providers. The Internet firstly affects the pharmaceutical consumer through the five main functions it offers to all consumers of care. These functions are: 1. to provide and distribute...

The PleurX peritoneal drainage catheter for drainage of malignant ascites in a community setting has been evaluated by the NICE Medical Technologies Evaluation Programme. This article outlines the evidence included in the Sponsor's submission, the independent critique by the External Assessment...

Background:Background: The high number of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has facilitated greater research, resulting in the development of innovative medical devices. So far, results from economic evaluations that compared drug-eluting stents (DES) and bare-metal stents (BMS)...

Background:Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is considered an orphan disease. Prostacyclins are the keystone for PAH treatment. Choosing between the three available prostacyclin therapies could be complicated because there are no comparison studies, so the final decision must be...

Background:Background: The General Mutual Benefit Fund for Civil Servants and State Employees of Côte d'Ivoire (MUGEFCI; Mutuelle Générale des Fonctionnaires et Agents de l'État de Côte d'Ivoire) is a health mutual fund providing coverage (medical consultations, laboratory tests and...

Background:Background: In spite of the important progress made in the abortive treatment of acute migraine episodes since the introduction of triptans, reduction of pain and associated symptoms is in many cases still not as effective nor as fast as would be desirable. Recent research pays more...