A Miracle Drug at an Ungodly Price

In 2013, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Sovaldi for sale to the public. Sovaldi is a drug developed by Gilead Sciences used to treat hepatitis C infection. In clinical trials, it proved to be effective in up to 90 percent of patients.

A Miracle Drug at an Ungodly Price_1Not only has this drug proven to cure the disease in a high percentage rate, it also did that in the speed of light, in terms of medical treatments. According to the drug manufacturer’s statistics, a patient can be totally rid of this potentially life-threatening disease in an average of 3 to 6 months.

Are there any side effects to this drug? Some patients may experience fatigue and headaches after taking it but there are no known serious side effects up to this point. It is truly a miracle drug. There is only one concern for most patients: the price tag of $1,000 per pill which you take on a daily basis. Yes, $1,000 per pill. So if you are a hep C patient and you respond to the pill really well, in three months it will cost you a bit over US$90,000.

Is it worth it? The answer is an obvious yes — if you can afford it.

To this former hepatitis patient the successful development of a wonder drug like Sovaldi comes close to home. My disease mysteriously disappeared a few years ago as if four qualified doctors conspired to misdiagnose me for 25 years. The fifth one, my current physician, could not explain to me why it went away with no treatment, no special circumstances. (No, I did not practice qi gong 氣功, take unknown grass roots, or inject myself with non-medical remedies.)

My close friend Mary (not her real name) is not so lucky. She suffers from acute and chronic hepatitis C. When she heard about Sovaldi, she asked her doctor about it. The latter said she would check into it but later told Mary that her health insurance did not cover the prescription of Sovaldi.

The drug’s high price tag has naturally created controversy. Some high government officials have asked Gilead Sciences to justify the cost of Sovaldi. According to some reports, the original projected retail price was about 1/3 of what it is selling for now. However, Gilead vice president Gregg Alton calmly and matter-of-factly defended the $1,000 a pill price tag. “To suggest that a cure for a disease like hepatitis C should be priced at $36,000 . . . would put a huge disincentive on investing in cures for our industry,” he said.

A Miracle Drug at an Ungodly Price_2As a small businessman living in a capitalistic country, I hear what Mr. Alton is saying. But as a fellow human being, to allegedly make an extra $54,000 (90,000 – 36,000) on a seriously ill person in 3 months seems a little cruel and excessive. That’s not counting the majority of hepatitis C patients who are simply shut out of this cure because they don’t have $90,000 to $180,000 lying around.

In the meantime, Mary, you just have to wait for 20 years when the patent for Sovaldi runs out. By then, a generic can be had for perhaps $10 a pill. So hang in there, my friend.

*** The End ***

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