How much will Herceptin really cost?: Summary of other responses

doi:10.1136/bmj.39052.659456.FA

BMJ 2006;333:1219-1220 (9 December), doi:10.1136/bmj.39052.659456.FA

Letters

How much will Herceptin really cost?

Summary of other responses

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The 19 responses to the article by Barrett etal express concerns about the independence of the National Institutefor Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), its remit, and itsrole in relation to primary care trusts.¹

People are divided on whether NICE should decidewhich services to cut to fund new technologies (opportunitycosts). But without an implementing body it is unclear how toreact to NICE's recommendations. NICE's remit is not the equitabledistribution of a limited healthcare budget, but its guidanceshould provide healthcare professionals and political bodieswith a means to make informed decisions and communicate theseto the public. The public in turn needs to accept that healthcare is a finite resource, and that the decision is betweenrationing and paying higher taxes.

The role of primary care trusts as strong localcommissioners is emphasised by several correspondents—postcodeprescribing, rather than being a lottery, is . . . [Full text of this article]

Birte Twisselmann, assistant editor, web

¹ BMJ