Editorial: Moving the QALY Forward or Just Stuck in Traffic?

ment Workshop held in November 2007 on methods for estimat-ing and applying quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) [1–7]. Participants were charged with the agenda of “Moving the QALY Forward, ” with the primary objective of seeking consen-sus on how to define and refine the QALY. The authors analyze the underlying assumptions, offer critiques of QALY methods, and propose alternative approaches. Although the contributions provide a reasonable overview of the current state of QALYs, they confirm several rather unfortunate truths. First, the scientific foundations of conventional QALYs remain unsatisfactory— being essentially unchanged since their inception. Second, many practitioners and policymakers remain content to apply QALYs uncritically and unapologetically for the purposes of health-technology assessment (HTA). As a consequence, one must con-clude that the prospects for moving the science and practice o