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Editor's Introduction Since the mid-1970s an ever-expanding group of economists has been attempting to apply the tools of economic analysis to the question:how should health care resources best be distributed? Although health economists have suggested a variety of answers to this question, the quality adjusted life year (QALY) (developed primarily at York University, UK) has received by far the most attention, from academics and practitioners alike.
Alan Williams is one of the foremost advocates of the QALY, and has granted permission toHealth Care Analysis to reproduce the following challenging summary of his position. This summary is discussed by three commentators, each of whom-in different ways-highlight the complexity of the health care realities with which economic theorists are grappling.
This paper was first published as Discussion Paper 121 by the Centre for Health Economics, University of York, York Health Economics Consortium and the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, and is reproduced by permission of the author.
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Williams, A. Economics, QALYs and medical ethics — A health economist's perspective. Health Care Anal 3, 221–226 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02197671
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02197671