CER Daily Newsfeed

Value Viewpoint: October 25, 2024

(10/25, Kimberly Westrich, LinkedIn) comments “Earlier this week, ICER released its Final Evidence Report assessing the comparative clinical effectiveness of tafamidis, acoramidis, and vutrisiran for the treatment of transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM). The report was the subject of the September 2024 public meeting of the Midwest CEPAC in which the appraisal committee agreed that each therapy had adequate evidence to demonstrate a health benefit compared to no disease-specific treatment.” Full

Medicare ‘Fit-For-Purpose’ Studies For Coverage Of Emerging Medical Products, Part 1: A Framework

(10/24, Caroline Marra, Amy P. Abernethy and Sean R. Tunis, Health Affairs Forefront) comments “...In part 1 of this article, we offer a framework for FFP study design and data source selection in the context of ‘coverage with evidence development’ (CED), which provides for Medicare coverage of selected emerging medical products on the condition that they are furnished in the context of Medicare-approved clinical studies. An explicit, structured approach to designing these studies is essential to achieving the policy goals of CED, as they involve an inherent and complex balancing act: how to resolve uncertainties about the performance of a novel product in the Medicare population without imposing unnecessary data collection burden or unduly restricting access to the product by Medicare beneficiaries.” Full

Cognitive Therapy, Modafinil, Combo All Beneficial for Multiple Sclerosis Fatigue

(10/25, Elana Gotkine, HealthDay) reports “...‘Results of this randomized comparative effectiveness research trial of telephone-based CBT, modafinil, and combination therapy suggest that each treatment offers largely equivalent, clinically meaningful benefits for the effects of multiple sclerosis fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis, with high acceptance, good adherence, and good tolerability,’ the authors write.” Full

Evidence Review Makes the Case for Further Research into Tethered Spinal Cord

(10/25, Carolyn Barnes, Keck School of Medicine of USC) reports “An evidence review on the diagnosis and treatment of tethered spinal cord, a rare condition affecting the nervous system, found that, while surgery could be a good option for symptomatic patients, data showing the benefit of surgical intervention for asymptomatic patients was lacking...The work was initiated by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and commissioned and funded by [AHRQ] and [PCORI], respectively.” Full