Committees of the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) are being encouraged to be more favourable to the drug and device industries, The BMJ has been told.

The concerns have been raised since a change in the minister with responsibility for NICE. On 15 July this year George Freeman took over this role when he was appointed as parliamentary undersecretary of state for life sciences at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department of Health for England. It is a new ministerial post with a remit to accelerate innovation.

NICE sources are concerned that the change in minister responsible for the institute could lead to greater pressure to allow doctors to prescribe drugs before NICE has appraised them. The sources also told The BMJ they were worried about pressure to be more lenient in the interpretation of evidence.

For more details, go to: http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g6387?etoc= [Subscription required]