'We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality'

Australia’s HTA framework is built on precisely the evasion the 20th-century novelist condemned. The disconnect between reality and consequence. Governments and their officials frequently discuss 'faster access' to medicines while adhering to a process designed to drive prices down to the lowest possible level. The objective consequence of that choice is delay, which means suffering and, in some cases, death. …