© 2005 Oxford University Press
EDITORIAL |
Neuroblastoma, Well-Designed Evaluations, and the Optimality of Research Funding: Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You ...
Correspondence to: Isra G. Levy, MB, BCh, MSc, Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, and Office for Public Health, Canadian Medical Association, 1867 Alta Vista Dr., Ottawa, Ontario K1G 3X6, Canada (e-mail: isra.levy@cma.ca).
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Health care technology assessment (HTA) has garnered the attention of policy makers over the past 20 years because the introduction of new technologies is widely believed to have been a major driver of increased health care expenditures in developed countries (1). Careful evaluation of health care technology prior to widespread introduction and diffusion has become a priority for policy makers who are committed to evidence-based decision making, and those involved with HTA have argued the merits of including economic evaluations alongside clinical effectiveness evaluations. It has been recognized that rigorous economic evaluations of new technologies may not always be feasible, and even if feasible the evaluation itself may not be cost-effective (2). In this issue