Asume we live in a world of fixed amounts of investments. The option to invest in a new project or product will automatically reduce the amount of investment in another product. The investment decision, therefore, is subject to opportunity costs. A recent study by Naci et al. (2025) applies this rationale to the investment in new drugs compared to financing other traditional treatments. The results for the U.K between 2000 and 2020 revealed that the „quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs)“ is not in favor of the investment in new drugs. The relatively small numbers of beneficiaries of the new drugs is compared to the many other persons who could have benefited from the less costly previous treatment. Investment in one new drug causes disinvestment in other ones. The overall balance for the UK turned out to be negative. Particularly the disinvestment in prevention of diseases appears to have very detrimental effects in view of the results based on this study. Preventative measures are relatively cheap compared to the estimated 20.000 pounds for one additional quality adjusted year of life for a new drug. The message is: choose your health investments wisely to avoid ever rising health costs and health insurance. (Image: rest room Belgium) 
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