In early 2015, NICE approved NHS provision of Gilead’s hepatitis C drug Sovaldi. In the following months, NHS England delayed consistent provision of Sovaldi given the impact this would have had for the NHS budget. Instead, it applied quotas and prioritised prescription of Sovaldi to patients with the most severe need while it attempted to renegotiate prices with Gilead. In 2017, NHS England reached a deal with Gilead and other drug companies to bring down the price of hepatitis C drugs and provide access to a larger group of patients. NICE’s approach to cost-effectiveness analysis is founded on utilitarian principles, with the aim of maximising the benefits of health spending for society as a whole. The logic of the system is to ensure that the NHS uses its funding to deliver the greatest overall improvement in health with the resources at its disposal. In its cost–benefit analysis, NICE considers the number of quality-adjusted life years that a new drug will deliver, without making any judgements about the value of an additional life year for a particular patient or social group. In NICE’s analysis, an additional quality-adjusted life year for a child is given the same importance as one for an older person. Cut to the present, and the geopolitical arena is dramatically different. The US no longer sees India as an adversary but as an indispensable partner. China’s determined rise has significantly changed Washington’s strategic calculus. Today the US is busy trying to retain its pre-eminent position in the world by creating new friendships and alliances.

Friends with Benefits is a detailed, punchy and richly reported account of the last several decades of Indo-US relations. Seema Sirohi, a long-time observer of the relationship, has written an entertaining book that balances incisive analysis with valuable original reportage. A fascinating read.’ No. If you can’t come then neither can I. You are too sore. This is the price I have to pay for not taking care of you.” Even after NICE has recommended the use of a new drug, and NHS England has completed any subsequent negotiations on prices, there may still be a delay before clinicians start to prescribe a drug as part of routine practice. Clinicians need to learn about a new drug, to incorporate new clinical guidelines in their practice or, in some cases, need additional training to become confident in prescribing it safely.Oh God”, her panted words, as her hand wrapped around the length of him over the silk material rewarded by the guttural moan that was ripped from his throat, Italian words spilling from him. Just as suddenly as his fingers had penetrated her he removed them, Sara only just managing to stop herself from begging him not to, the moan full of her disappointment. He however rose, and flipping the straps from the main part of the lingerie, grasped it with both hands dragging it down her body. He moved down her as he pulled the skimpy material down her legs, leaving Sara completely naked as he knelt at her feet.

There have been several books on India–US relations in recent years, but what makes Seema Sirohi’s Friends with Benefits unique is the perspective she offers as an accomplished journalist on how the two vibrant democracies have journeyed from estrangement to engagement. Her insights, drawn from an extended involvement with the subject, are both sharp and incisive.’

Author, Seema Sirohi, says, “I have been fortunate enough to watch the arc of the India-US relationship bend towards friendship despite the bumps along the way. With this book, my aim is to fill the gaps in a narrative that is often set in the West and is often one-sided. As they say, reality is more complicated. I tell the India-US story by showing the drama of diplomacy and recounting how officials really felt about the problems and prospects of the relationship. There were moments when it seemed the centre would not hold and things would fall apart. They did not. Slowly but surely, the two ships of state turned around from hostile to a friendly posture. This decades-long dance between the two is what Friends with Benefits is all about.”