A greater understanding of value associated with new pharmaceutical products should lead to better decision-making. Most commonly cost-effectiveness ratios (CERs) are used to indicate value; however, researchers have recently shown that CER estimates are rarely used by decision-makers in making...

This article describes the components that should be included as indirect costs to be consistent with economic theory in studies conducted from a societal perspective. The recently proposed method of how to estimate indirect costs, the friction-cost approach, is shown to exclude many aspects of...

Introduction: The LIFE (Losartan Intervention For Endpoint reduction in hypertension) study demonstrated a 13% relative risk reduction in the primary composite endpoint (myocardial infarction, stroke or death) for patients with hypertension and electrocardiographically diagnosed left ventricular...

Introduction: This analysis compared the cost effectiveness of adding ezetimibe to atorvastatin therapy versus atorvastatin titration or adding cholestyramine (a resin) for patients at high risk of a coronary artery disease (CAD) event who did not reach target cholesterol levels on their current...

Background: QALYs combine survival and health-related quality of life (QOL) into a single index, enabling judgements about the relative value for money of healthcare interventions. Objective: To investigate the methods used for estimating QALY weights included in submissions by industry for...

There are now a large number of instruments available for assessing health-related quality of life, many of which are used within economic evaluations. When considering the use of quality-of-life instruments, meaningful questions need to be asked to determine whether an instrument has been used...

Markov models are often employed to represent stochastic processes, that is, random processes that evolve over time. In a healthcare context, Markov models are particularly suited to modelling chronic disease. In this article, we describe the use of Markov models for economic evaluation of...

Background: Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) is legal in the US and New Zealand, but illegal in the rest of the world. Little or no research exists on the social welfare implications of DTCA. Aim: To quantify the total costs and benefits associated with both appropriate and inappropriate...

Background: Osteoporosis is a frequent complication in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Recent studies have shown bisphosphonates to considerably reduce fracture risk in patients with osteoporosis, and preventing fractures with bisphosphonates has been reported to be cost effective in...