PhRMA warns of access woes under ICER framework

Stepping up its warnings of what could happen if the process of setting US drug prices were to be radically reformed, Pharmaceutical and Research Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has quoted analysis by intelligence provider Xcenda.

The pharma lobby group is opposed to value assessments like the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review’s (ICER) framework, being used by Medicaid as the basis for assessing medicines in the USA.

"Cost-effectiveness analyses will insert the government between patients and their doctors"If introduced to determine the price of drugs supplied to US patients under Medicaid, the ICER’s use of measures such as the quality-adjusted life year (QALY) system, would bring the USA into more close alignment with the rest of the world.