Background:Background: The credibility of contingent valuation studies has been questioned because of the potential occurrence of scope insensitivity, i.e. that respondents do not react to higher quantities or qualities of a good. Abstract: Objective:Objective: The aim of this study was to...

Introduction: Standard methods of economic analysis may not be suitable for local decision making that is specific to a particular population. Background: We describe a new three-step methodology, termed `population cost-impact analysis', which provides a population perspective to the costs and...

This paper reconsiders the evidence and several of the key arguments associated with the theory of supplier-induced demand (SID). It proposes a new theory to explain how ethical behaviour is consistent with SID. The purpose of a theory of demand and one criterion for the evaluation of a theory...

Background: Evidence about how people value health gains for different age groups is controversial and incomplete, despite the significance of this issue for priority setting in health policy. Objective: The aim of this study was to collect and analyse nationally representative data in the US...

The debate surrounding whether the findings of efficacy studies are applicable to real-world treatment situations is ongoing. The issue of lack of applicability due to a lack of clinical heterogeneity could be addressed by employing less restrictive inclusion criteria. Given that health economic...

Background: The Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act (FDAMA) of 1997, Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (BPCA) of 2002 and Pediatric Research Equity Act of 2007 provide an extended period of 6 months of marketing exclusivity (i.e. patent extension) to prescription drug...

Background: Previous research to develop a new generic paediatric health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) measure generated 11 dimensions of HR-QOL, covering physical, emotional and social functioning. These dimensions and their response scales were developed from interviews with children. Some...

Background: Assessments of vaccination programmes should account for several important factors, including efficacy, safety and costs of preventing and treating the disease. Because patients with invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) are managed primarily in an inpatient setting, hospital costs...

Cost-of-illness (COI) studies seemingly provide a solid foundation for quantifying the potential benefits of illicit drug policy interventions that reduce drug use at the population level. However, their usefulness is severely limited. In this paper, we suggest several improvements to substance...