The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has spoken out against renewed criticism of the way members of its advisory panels are selected and claims of conflict of interest.

As the Commons Health Select Committee gets ready to examine NICE’s processes, a group of doctors and academics have written to Sarah Wollaston, chairman of the committee calling for an investigation into the way decisions are taken.

The letter, the signatories of which include Tory peer Lord McColl and Kailash Chand, deputy chairman of the British Medical Association, argues that the way NICE manages the conflict-of-interest measure for its panels which issue draft guidance is “not fit for purpose”. NICE rules state that panellists should not have had a personal financial interest in a related company in the last 12 months but Lord McColl told the BBC that “they could have had millions paid before the 12 months. It really needs to be tightened up”.

The complaints follow a similar letter sent in June expressing concern over proposed guidance from the cost watchdog that anyone with a 10% or greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the next 10 years should be eligible for statins. They questioned whether the benefits of the cholesterol-lowerers outweigh the side-effects, noting that all available data on the pills comes from pharmaceutical companies, which “raises concerns about possible biases”.

For more details, go to: http://www.pharmatimes.com/Article/14-10-22/NICE_defends_panels_over_conflict_of_interest_claim.aspx