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December 18, 2007
L'Etat, C'est moins NICE
by Peter Pitts
In September I participated in a conference of French health care regulators, pharmaceutical firms and members of the Assemblée Nationale. The keynote of the event was a speech by the French Minister of Health, Madame Roselyne Bachelot. She gave a thoughtful presentation on the need for all concerned to work together for the public good.
Recently she showed that she meant what she said with these comments in front of the French Parliament:
"Je suis enfin défavorable à ce que l'on intègre,à l'instar du NICE, la notion de quality-adjusting life-years dans les indicateurs d'éfficience médico-économique. Cela ne correspond pas à la culture dont la HAS doit s'inspirer."
For those of you who took Spanish in high school, here's the translation:
"I am not in favor, as it is done by NICE, to integrate the notion of quality-adjusting life-years among the indicators for medico-economic efficiency. It does not correspond to the culture which should inspire the HAS."
(HAS = La Haute Autorité de Santé. HAS roughly corresponds to NICE in the UK or CMS in the US -- not precisely, but you get the idea.)
Well, amen to French culture and a big "Bon Courage!" to Madame Bachelot.
Posted by peterpitts at December 18, 2007 02:35 PM
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