The elderly would be denied new drugs under “hard-nosed” plans by ministers that prioritise patients who contribute to the economy, the NHS treatments adviser has warned.
In a blunt rebuke to the Government, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has rejected plans to take “wider societal benefit” into account when considering whether to pay for a drug, The Times has learnt.
Sir Andrew Dillon, the head of NICE, said that he was uncomfortable with a “fair-innings approach” that would tilt funding away from the old because younger patients had more to gain from treatment and more to give back.
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Can we say “death panels”?