Could comparative-effectiveness studies rein in health-care costs?

MOST industries have grasped the idea that new products should be measured against rival offerings. From laptops to double-glazed windows, consumers have ready access to comparative studies from consumer magazines, independent testing bodies and the like.
When it comes to health care, however, comparative-effectiveness studies for new drugs, devices and procedures are rare. Drugs trials often compare new treatments with placebos, not rival pills. Device makers rush to get new gizmos into action before cost-benefit analyses can be done. In America the federal government's health programmes eschew comparative-effectiveness tests as a matter of policy. Now moves are afoot in America's Congress to promote the use of such techniques to rein in rampant cost inflation.