The price the NHS in England agrees to pay for new medicines is too high, causing more harm than good overall, an analysis suggests.

University of York researchers say the special cancer drugs fund is particularly poor value, diverting money from other patient services.

They argue the drugs advice body, NICE, has set its price threshold too high. 

But NICE says lowering prices could force the NHS to close the door on newer therapies.

The health service has to balance the costs of new treatments alongside investments made in more routine care. 

To do this the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) uses a measure called quality-adjusted life years (QALY).

For more details, go to: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-31507861