The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) provisional decision against memantine and other medications for Alzheimer's disease (AD) has generated much discussion. In its decision, NICE expressed concern about the data source used for the utility scores in the industry...

A short term (6-month) cost-effectiveness model has been developed to simulate current medical practice and disease progression in patients with type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus uncontrolled by diet and exercise. The model is based on decision-analytical techniques and includes...

Uncertainty in the decision-making process for reimbursement of health technologies could be reduced if additional information were available. Although methods to evaluate the monetary value of the uncertainty have been previously described, an economic evaluation of alternative methods to...

Background: Invasive fungal infections in neutropenic patients treated for haematological malignancies are associated with a high mortality rate and, therefore, require early treatment. As the diagnosis of invasive fungal infections is difficult, effective antifungal prophylaxis is desirable. So...

We conducted a systematic review of economic studies of prostaglandin analogues for the treatment of glaucoma to assess the scope of current cost-effectiveness evidence and its relevance to decision-makers. The literature search retrieved 102 studies published before July 2005; after additional hand...

Background: Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the US, and its prevalence continues to increase. Despite the availability of effective asthma controller medications, many patients with asthma are still not meeting therapeutic goals because of poor disease management. The high...

The risk of late-occurring deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism after total hip replacement persists for at least 3 weeks after hospital discharge. Recent clinical trials have demonstrated that prolonged prophylaxis with enoxaparin, a low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH), significantly...

Trastuzumab (Herceptin(R)) is a monoclonal antibody approved for the treatment of breast cancer that overexpresses human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). Well designed clinical trials in women with early breast cancer have demonstrated that 1 years' therapy with adjuvant intravenous...

In this paper we consider the evolving American healthcare landscape and what it means for the use of economic evaluation of health interventions. We emphasise that use of economic evaluation in the US is unlikely to follow the European, Canadian or Australian models, which use cost...