[New drugs: money-back guarantee?].
When a new medical technology, for example a new drug, is introduced onto the market there should be a discussion of the balance between "uncertainty versus value to society and demand". The new technology is sometimes given the benefit of the doubt due to a lack of information. Follow-up investigation is actually essential but is seldom mandatory and hardly ever spontaneously initiated. Specific measures, based on stimulation or penalization, could reduce the degree of uncertainty concerning the efficacy, safety and efficiency of a new technology. A serious option when a new drug produces disappointing results is to pay the manufacturer less.
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Instituut Beleid & Management Gezondheidszorg, Sectie Gezondheidseconomie, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. steenhoek@bmg.eur.nl
Adri
A
Steenhoek
Marc A
MA
Koopmanschap
Margreet G
MG
Franken
Frans F H
FF
Rutten
D016527:Drug Costs; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D011358:Product Surveillance, Postmarketing; D012052:Reimbursement, Incentive; D020414:Risk Sharing, Financial