Posted by Michael Wonder on 12 Feb 2020
ICER methods could be illegal in US, claims US think tank
11 February 2020 - The method used by the US Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) to gauge whether drugs are cost-effective would violate US law if used in state Medicaid programmes, says a new report.
The report by the Pioneer Institute – a privately-funded think tank – claims that the quality-adjusted life year (QALY) measurement could lead to treatment being prioritised for a non-disabled person over a person with “a disability, mental illness or life-threatening chronic condition.”
“Our legal analysis suggests that using QALY in state Medicaid programmes would violate the American with Disabilities Act on at least two separate, but related grounds,” says the report.
