A QALY is [still] a QALY is [still] a QALY?: Evaluating proportional shortfall as the answer to the problem of equity in healthcare allocations

Abstract

Despite clinical evidence of drug superiority, therapeutic modalities, like combination immunotherapy, are mostly considered cost-ineffective due to their high costs per life year(s) gained. This paper, taking an ethical stand, reevaluates the standard cost-effectiveness analysis with that of the more recent justice-enhanced methods and concludes by pointing out the shortcomings of the current methodologies.