A watchdog group sets aside emotions to assess drugs’ value. Patients say their lives are more than a number
Health economists walk a precarious tightrope: Their analyses are quantitative and, presumably, emotion-free. But health care is intensely personal — and often, intensely emotional.
That tension between between quantitative analyses and lived experiences was on full display at a recent meeting of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, a nonprofit that tasks itself with determining what a drug is worth based on factors like how well it works and how much it helps patients.
