Most importantly, not all care is equally effective at population level and not necessarily preferential allocation of resources on new medications, that are generally more expensive than older ones, translates into a net health benefit for citizens. A recent Lancet study estimated the net health gain impact of new drugs introduction from NHS over the years in the UK by comparing the QALY achieved by new drugs with those achievable if the resources had been allocated on existing services. The study found out that new drugs recommended produced a net loss of approximately 1.25 million QALYs with potential 5.00 million QALY lost displacing investments from existing NHS services.
Given all this, the study from Baumgartner and colleagues provides further evidence for the provocative question: what would be the health benefit when social aspects of life are prioritized?
Furlan L, Costantino G. Social determinants of health in the era of precision medicine. Eur J Intern Med. 2026;106926. DOI:10.1016/j.ejim.2026.106926. PMID: 42097938
