Evidence based policy decisions through a Bayesian approach: The case of a statin appraisal in the Netherlands

It has often been suggested that Bayesian statistics is more congenial to the informational needs of policy makers than the standard frequentist methods. In order to illustrate this claim, we use both a Bayesian and a frequentist approach for revisiting a recommendation by the Dutch National Health Insurance Board that for all patients requiring lipid reduction, the cheapest alternative (Simvastatin) should be prescribed. We investigate whether Simvastatin and Atorvastatin, the most commonly used alternative, can be considered equivalent in terms of lipid control for patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia.