In past decades, studies focusing on new chemotherapeutic agents for patients with inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer have reported only modest gains in survival. These health gains are achieved at considerable cost, but economic evidence is lacking on superiority of one agent in terms of...

The design of decision-analytic models for cost-effectiveness analysis has been the subject of discussion. The current work addresses this issue by noting that, when time is to be explicitly modelled, we need to represent phenomena occurring in continuous time. Models evaluated in continuous...

Objectives:Objectives: This report reviews the cost effectiveness of different therapeutic interventions used in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Abstract: Methods:Methods: We performed a systematic search of the databases MEDLINE via PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library and used...

Introduction: In adults with previously untreated chronic hepatitis C (CHC), the combination of peginterferon alpha-2a plus ribavirin produces a higher rate of sustained virological response (SVR) than interferon alpha-2b plus ribavirin, but it is still unproven whether this increase is cost...

The fields of pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics have become important practical tools to progress goals in medical and pharmaceutical research and development. As more screening tests are being developed, with some already used in clinical practice, consideration of cost-effectiveness...

Background: Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a rare but serious complication of heparin therapy. The diagnosis of HIT is difficult because its signs are non-specific and the heparin-platelet factor 4 (PF4) antibody test used to confirm the diagnosis is imprecise. Drugs used to treat HIT...

The purpose of this paper is to argue that systematic data heterogeneity exists when the objective of pharmacotherapy is improved health-related quality of life (HR-QOL), and that the pharmacotherapy's cost effectiveness will vary inversely with the patient's baseline HR-QOL (BHR-QOL), the...

With an aging population and increased prevalence of chronic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes mellitus, drug reforms are needed across Europe to ensure the continued provision of comprehensive healthcare. It is also a challenge, with the limited resources available, to fund new innovative...

This paper describes the key principles of why an assessment of uncertainty and its consequences are critical for the types of decisions that a body such as the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has to make. In doing so, it poses the question of whether formal...

Background: Smoking cessation should be encouraged in order to increase life expectancy and reduce smoking-related healthcare costs. Results of a randomised trial suggested that reimbursing the costs of smoking cessation treatment (SCT) may lead to an increased use of SCT and an increased number...