Important SMR and ASMR V: contradictory assessments of a medicine?

A HAS assessment can rate a medicine’s service médical rendu, or SMR, as important while assigning an amélioration du service médical rendu, or ASMR, of level V. This is not necessarily contradictory: the two assessments answer different questions.

SMR assesses clinical value for a specific indication. HAS considers factors including the illness’s severity, efficacy, adverse effects and the medicine’s place among available treatments. This assessment informs reimbursement decisions in France.

ASMR assesses improvement over available alternatives. There are five levels, from I to V. Level V means no therapeutic progress compared with what is already available; it does not mean there is no clinical value at all.

The two assessments therefore need to be read together. A medicine can have a role in treating an illness without providing additional benefit over existing options. Being new, or the wording of an announcement, is not enough to establish that improvement.

Identify the medicine assessed, the indication and the assessment’s date. HAS evaluates each indication separately, and its assessment can change as knowledge or alternatives develop. Ask which comparison treatment is relevant to the assessment you read.

The assessment informs public reimbursement and pricing decisions; it is neither a personal prescription nor a reimbursement guarantee. Show the passage to your doctor or pharmacist to understand its relevance to your treatment, without changing it yourself.