Currently browsing tag

national-health

UK cost watchdog turns down Amgen’s new cholesterol drug

Amgen’s new injectable cholesterol drug Repatha has been turned down for use on Britain’s state health service, underscoring a worldwide debate about the value of such pricey medicines. Repatha belongs to a potent new class of drugs known as PCSK9 inhibitors that are extremely effective at lowering “bad” LDL cholesterol. NICE, which decides if treatments should be paid for on the National Health Service (NHS), also said in its draft guidance that analyses presented by Amgen had limitations that “called into question the reliability of the cost-effectiveness results”.

Spain to restore free health care for illegal immigrants

Spain's conservative government said Tuesday it would restore free health care for illegal immigrants, overturning a controversial decision taken three years ago. Under a reform that came into place in September 2012, foreigners without residency papers lost their national health cards which allowed them free treatment in local public health clinics. Illegal immigrants who are over 18 only get free treatment in case of an emergency, pregnancy or birth. “It is more sensible and reasonable that this care be given in health centres so emergency wards are not saturated,” Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said as he announced that all undocumented immigrants would once again come within the fold of the public health system.

UK’s first private NHS hospital provider Circle throws in towel

(Reuters) – Circle Holdings Plc, the first private company to run a general hospital for Britain’s state-funded National Health Service (NHS), said on Friday it was pulling out of Hinchingbrooke hospital in eastern England because it was no longer sustainable. Shares in the company were down 17.6 percent in early trade. Its decision, triggered by a crisis in the provision of emergency care across the NHS in recent months, is a blow to government plans to increase the role of private companies in British healthcare. …