U.S. urged to compare Alzheimer, ADD, other therapies

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An Institute of Medicine committee urged the U.S. government on Tuesday to fund studies comparing treatments for Alzheimer's disease, attention deficit disorder and other conditions as part of a new effort to determine which strategies work best.

The recommendations were included in a list of 100 priorities developed by an IOM panel charged with advising the government on how to spend money allocated by Congress for "comparative effectiveness" research.

The list contained a wide array of research areas from imaging technologies used to diagnose and monitor cancer to school-based physical education and meal programs aimed at preventing and treating obesity.

The U.S. stimulus plan that became law earlier this year allocated $1.1 billion to compare the effectiveness of various treatments. The IOM recommendations are meant to provide guidance on $400 million of that spending.

Drug and medical device makers worry that comparative effectiveness research might favor older and cheaper therapies and the results could be used to deny insurance coverage for some of the newest and more expensive treatments.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Derek Caney)