Cutting-edge NHS drugs do more harm than good

Almost all new drugs approved for Britain’s National Health Service  do more harm than good, according to a study using  modelling adopted by the government, reports The Times (London).  Saving a life with a new drug can cost about twice as much as doing the same through more staff or equipment, according to official calculations that led to calls for reform of the way the NHS pays for medicines. The Department of Health and Social Care has implicitly conceded that the cost of most cutting-edge medicines kills more people through diverting money from other NHS services than the treatments themselves save.