EHP 2000;6(2):64-68 Alternative Approaches to the Economic Evaluation of a Drug for Patients with Alzheimers Disease

The increasing prevalence of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), and the costs of the drugs emerging for its treatment, together pose the question of how to evaluate these drugs in economic terms. We examine two approaches, first, an outline proposal [1] examining the requirements of a cost-effectiveness analysis of AD drugs; as it is defined, there exist severe problems in the areas of quality of life measurement, and international cost comparisons. Secondly, we discuss the common approach to economic evaluation of a series of papers [2-4] examining the value of AD drugs, presented to the Irish Centre of Pharmacoeconomics. Though the measurement problems and data collection requirements are fewer, it becomes clear that this approach also has its difficulties, mainly in respect of inter-country comparisons. An alternative approach, using an extended post-marketing surveillance trial, is suggested, and its relative value assessed.