According to the author of the study, James Raftery, a professor health technology assessment it is said that NICE is being partial with its decisions. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) was set up as an independent body by the government in 1999 and given the task of getting the best from NHS resources. It examines the value of treatments for the NHS in England and Wales and recommends whether they should be used unreservedly, with restrictions, or not at all after they have been given a licence.
NICE published 86 sets of guidance covering 117 topics in a period of five years of service. Statistics show that NICE decided no for 19%, yes for 23%, yes with major restrictions for 32% and yes with minor restrictions for 28%. The doctors of the NHS advisory body also say that the campaigners, companies and politicians are pressurizing NICE. On the other hand groups that re campaigning for treatments such as Herceptin are not happy with the way NICE took its decisions. It was found that some drugs had still not been approved nearly three years after being given a licence. In conclusion the author says that NICE as an independent organization should work in such a way that the funding available for drugs in the NHS is spent in a way that best that serves the patients.
