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Times column on 'big pharma'

I found this article quite interesting - good to see that some other people think NICE is not all it's cracked up to be...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/a...

Hi Olivia,

Yes I read this excellent article by Jonathan Waxman who is Professor of Oncology at Imperial College, London and is a big critic of NICE. He makes so very salient points in this and the other articles in the Times archive. See Newswire for direct link.

Sandy

It does indeed make clear and salient points. What I find objectionable about NICE's approach is that it to me seems to have an agenda which isn't necessarily about use of resources, but price negotiation. Pricing in the UK is complex and not a matter for NICE - Littlejohn's comments are so revealing as to their objective in all of this, and I question their current independence frankly. There may well be serious resource problems in the NHS but I do sense NICE is losing objectivity and conducting a pricing battle with pharma. That is not its job.