The decision by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in May, after a provisional refusal in February, to recommend abaritarone acetate for metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer […]
James Raftery’s NICE blogs
James Raftery: The government response to the value based pricing consultation
The publication of the Government response to the value based pricing consultation provides some further insight into current thinking. 188 responses are summarised to the 20 questions posed in the consultation, along […]
James Raftery: The NHS top-up policy for drugs not recommended by NICE – challenging the limits?
A recent breakfast meeting at the Kings Fund discussed the issue of an NHS top-up policy in relation to multifocal lenses in cataract surgery. My contribution from the commissioner perspective […]
James Raftery: Avastin, Lucentis, and NICE
A useful update was provided at a meeting this week sponsored by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) and Patients Involved in NICE (the National Institute for Health […]
James Raftery: What does “value based pricing” mean for NICE?
The “value based pricing” consultation paper” makes the following relevant references to the future of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). […]
James Raftery: Value based pricing – the consultation paper
The publication of the Department of Health’s consultation paper on value based pricing and the ongoing consultation on the Cancer Drugs Fund plus each consultation’s accompanying impact assessment mean that […]
James Raftery: What’s happening with NICE? The cancer drugs fund and “value based pricing”
The reports that NICE is to be stripped of its powers to recommend against NHS use of drugs prompts questions about the Coalition Government’s health plans. Some indication of what […]
James Raftery: NICE changes its position on Alzheimer’s disease drugs
The provisional guidance from NICE on drugs for Alzheimers’ disease – donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine, and memantine – marks a dramatic shift from restricting access to those with moderate disease to […]
James Raftery on bevacizumab for metastatic colorectal cancer
Roche’s bevacizumab (Avastin) is in the news again. This has a reasonable claim to be a wonder drug, but for macular degeneration, a disease for which Roche refuses to license […]
James Raftery: NICE – the beginning of the end—or a new beginning?
The coalition programme for government states: “We will create a cancer drugs fund to enable patients to access the cancer drugs their doctors think will help them, paid for using […]