Dr. Jürgen Windeler becomes the new IQWiG boss

Dr. Jürgen Windeler is the new head of the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG).

Dr. Jürgen Windeler will be the new head of the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG), replacing the outgoing chairman Prof. Dr. med. Peter Sawicki. As the "FAZ" reports, the IQWiG executive board Appoint Windeler as the new chairman of the institute. So far Windeler was the IQWiG vice-boss and senior physician of the medical service of the top federation of the health insurance companies (MDS). The appointment is almost only formal and must be decided by the Board of Trustees next week.

Prof. Dr. Peter Sawicki was accused of "irregularities in settlements" earlier this year. However, critics say that the drug-critical Sawicki had had too many enemies, especially in pharmaceutical companies, as he repeatedly opposes "pseudo-innovations" of drug manufacturers, whose "innovations" ultimately only burden the budget of health insurance and the patient did not help. The main task of the IQWiG is to examine drug trials and to investigate their actual benefits. Dr. Peter Sawicki took his job very seriously, too serious in the sense of the pharmaceutical lobby, as some claim. Sawicki has headed the institute since 2004. He is now followed by a cashier's successor. The 53-year-old Dr. Jürgen Windeler has been deputy head of the MDS since 2004. Previously, Windeler had already established the Department of Evidence-based Medicine (EBM). (Sb)

Also read:
IQWiG: Is Peter Sawicki too critical?
Jürgen Windeler: the bright and dark sides of the new IQWiG boss (external)