Abstract
Background: It is a familiar story. A promising multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment clears the three regulatory hurdles of safety, quality and efficacy, only to fall at the fourth: cost-effectiveness. This has led to concerns about the validity of the measures typically used to quantify treatment effects in cost-effectiveness analyses and in 2012, in the United Kingdom, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence called for an improvement in the cost-effectiveness framework for assessing MS treatments. Objective and Methods: This review describes what is meant by cost-effectiveness in health/social care funding decision-making, and usual practice for assessing treatment benefits. Results: We detail the use of the quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) in resource allocation decisions, and set out limitations of this approach in the context of MS. Conclusion: We conclude by highlighting methodological and policy developments which should aid addressing these limitations.
DOI
10.1177/1352458520954172
Publication Date
2020-09-03
Publication Title
Multiple Sclerosis Journal
ISSN
1352-4585
Embargo Period
2020-09-18
Organisational Unit
School of Health Professions
First Page
135245852095417
Last Page
135245852095417
Recommended Citation
Hawton, A., Goodwin, E., Boddy, K., Freeman, J., Thomas, S., Chataway, J., & Green, C. (2020) 'Measuring the cost-effectiveness of treatments for people with multiple sclerosis: Beyond quality-adjusted life-years', Multiple Sclerosis Journal, , pp. 135245852095417-135245852095417. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1352458520954172
