I don't know about you but I feel healthier just from watching the Olympics! Yet Prof Sir Michael Rawlins the Chairman of NICE seems to be feeling a bit peaky at the moment. It may be called 'NICE', but heading up the body that does the cost-benefit analysis on new medicines and thus determines for what the NHS will pay can be a nasty job. Sir Michael is obviously feeling queasy and this weekend put together a fiery potion in the Observer of accuracy and accusations which I fear will be bad medicine for the whole country.
Where he is right is the fact that the NHS has finite resources and we can't afford everything. He's been saying this for a while. Resource allocation or 'rationing' is a fact of life - we all do it with our pay cheques.
Where he is wrong is to throw the blame for this at the door of the pharmaceutical industry. That's like saying if only BMW would bring down their prices we could all afford one. The obvious point is that the investment that BMW put into developing their products needs to have an adequate return; otherwise they will go out of business. The same applies for the pharma industry. Without their investment in research and development many of us wouldn't even be alive, and the risks they take to bring medicines to market are enormous. Not only does our personal health benefit, but so does that of the country as the contribution to the economy from the pharma industry in the UK is worth billions. My fear is that Sir Michael's comments will cost our economy dear as having been made the scapegoat, the next time a pharma company decides where to build a new plant or commission new clinical trials, it's less likely to be in the UK.
There is no doubt that the NHS can't afford to pay for everything, hence the current consultations on co-payments going on. Yet is that the only solution? If reform is to be successful, doesn't it need to start in the home? How much unused, prescribed medication do you [or more likely, your granny] have in your cupboard?!
