BASKING RIDGE, NJ, May 24, 2006—i3 Innovus Principal Consultant George W. Torrance, Ph.D., will receive the Avedis Donabedian Outcomes Research Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) at its 11th annual international meeting in Philadelphia this week. The award acknowledges those individuals who have made a major contribution to the improvement of health outcomes. Dr. Torrance will be the fourth recipient of this highly prestigious honor.
The results of studies conducted by Dr. Torrance have laid a foundation for evidence-based medicine and health policy and contributed to a more efficient allocation of resources in health care. Dr. Torrance has been a leading researcher, teacher, and practitioner in health economics and outcomes research for more than three decades, pioneering many of the methods used today, particularly the use of utility theory and multi-attribute utility theory to measure preferences for health outcomes, and the concept of quality-adjusted life years and their use in cost-utility analyses. In addition, he and his colleagues developed the widely applied Health Utilities Index.
With this award, Dr. Torrance has now received lifetime achievement awards from all three of the societies in this field, including the 2001 Award for Career Achievement from the Society for Medical Decision Making and the 2002 President’s Award from the International Society for Quality of Life Research.
Also at the ISPOR meeting this week, i3 Innovus Principal Consultant Michael F. Drummond, Ph.D., will become president of the organization, and i3 Innovus researchers will make a number of significant oral and poster presentations, including:
The Economic Costs of Chronic Primary Insomnia in the United States: David Thompson, Ph.D., et al, estimated that in 2003, 2.3 percent of adults in the U.S. suffered from chronic insomnia that was unrelated to another condition, at a cost of $24.6 billion. Costs included insomnia medications, lost productivity, insomnia-attributable health events, and chronic conditions. Of those, depression accounted for the largest portion (34%), followed by alcohol abuse (25%), nicotine dependency (20%), drug abuse (14%), work loss (6%), accidental injuries (2%), and prescription insomnia medications (1%). (Poster: PNL17)
About i3
i3, a global Ingenix company, provides integrated scientific strategies and solutions throughout the pharmaceutical product lifecycle. It is composed of i3 Research, a therapeutically specialized contract research organization; i3 Drug Safety, engaged in pharmacovigilance and epidemiology; i3 Statprobe, a leader in comprehensive data services; i3 Pharma Resourcing, a world-class staffing partner; i3 Innovus (formerly i3 Magnifi), delivering the science and solutions to achieve marketplace success; and, i3 DLN, providing continuing medical education. i3 helps companies gain sharper insights that lead to better patient care. For more information, visit www.i3global.com
