The UK’s caesarean section rates have risen massively, almost doubling in the past 20 years, so it was with interest that I heard the news that 4 PCT’s in southern England are to stop paying for caesarean sections above the national average rate of 23%. Each caesarean section costs £800 more than a vaginal birth, […]
Tag: NICE guidance
James Raftery: End of life drugs – what premium? Pt 2
Having recommended NHS use of sunitinib for renal cancer, the appraisal committee of the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued separate draft guidance for consultation, recommending against the use of bevacizumab, sorafenib, and temsirolimus, which – along with sunitinib – had been rejected for renal cancer in 2008. […]
James Raftery: End of life drugs—what premium? Pt 1
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the UK drugs watchdog, is currently appraising the use of four drugs—bevacizumab, sorafenib, sunitinib, and temsirolimus—for the treatment of advanced or metastatic renal cell cancer. NICE has decided to split this appraisal in two, in order to get guidance out to the NHS as quickly as […]