NICE is not perfect, but it is not bad at this problem. Triage is not fun, but even with infinite money it is still necessary, and with finite money it has to

NICE is not perfect, but it is not bad at this problem. Triage is not fun, but even with infinite money it is still necessary, and with finite money it has to be coldly pragmatic. So NICE has a standard limit of £20,000 per QALY, or up to £30,000 per QALY, if certain extenuating conditions are met. A QALY being: "A measure of the state of health of a person or group in which the benefits, in terms of length of life, are adjusted to reflect the quality of life. One QALY is equal to 1 year of life in perfect health. QALYs are calculated by estimating the years of life remaining for a patient following a particular treatment or intervention and weighting each year with a quality of life score (on a zero to 1 scale). It is often measured in terms of the person's ability to perform the activities of daily life, freedom from pain and mental disturbance."