Two Current Fronts of the American Health Care Wars: Hepatitis C and Cancer

The Pharmaceutical Industry, Health Insurance and Recurrent Questions of Extortion, Murder and Evil

Asking patients to delay treatment for hepatitis C is like asking patients to delay treatment for diabetes or cancer.

"Waiting for cirrhosis to happen to treat HCV is like waiting for cancer to metastasize or for diabetes to cause complications before treating it. In reality, all cause mortality and per patient per year health care costs are tripled for patients with hepatitis C, whether they have cirrhosis or not."

-- Dr. Douglas Dieterich, leading hepatitis C and liver diseases researcher and specialist at the Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City

My friend John is a retired college professor who lives on a budget. He has hepatitis C, which he acquired from a blood transfusion before the development of blood testing and screening for hep C. He does have health insurance, but like most of those seeking treatment for this condition, he has been told that he must become demonstrably sicker to qualify for treatment coverage. Meanwhile, he must not drink any alcohol and remain vigilant for symptoms, especially fatigue. Since the progression of hepatitis C to cirrhosis of the liver and cancer of the liver can take decades, and John has already had this disease for decades, he is understandably concerned. In fact, he may die sooner from other causes, his untreated hepatitis C playing an indeterminate role. There is, however, an alternative for John. If he had the $100,000+ in cash to pay for the treatment now, he could be fully and safely cured in 8-12 weeks. John does not identify himself as a socialist, and he is willing to pay what he can for treatment, but the cost in this case is overwhelming.

Read more...

Hedge Fund Billionaires Are New Target for Hepatitis C Cure Protests

 The New York City home and offices of former hedge fund manager Julian H. Robertson were targeted by protest groups in a series of simultaneous direct actions in early May. Robertson is ranked No. 512 on Forbes' list of "the world's billionaires" with a reported net worth of $3.4 billion. "Robertson is making a killing off of people with Hep C," read one sign.

The protests targeted high profile hedge fund investors who have reaped substantial profits from the California-based pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences. Hedge Clippers, a coalition of labor, community and social justice groups including VOCAL-NY, seeks to draw links between hedge funds and income inequality, mass imprisonment, climate change, health disparities, and other challenges. Gilead has been targeted because of what has been called "exorbitant" pricing for its groundbreaking new class of drugs that can cure hepatitis C virus (HCV), such as Sovaldi, and the enormous profits they have generated.

HCV infection "is the most common chronic blood borne infection in the United States [and] approximately 3.2 million persons are chronically infected," according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). About 150 million people around the globe are living with HCV -- disproportionately the poor, uninsured and incarcerated -- which in its advanced stages can cause cirrhosis or liver cancer.

Read more...

High Cost of Sovaldi Hepatitis C Drug Prompts a Call to Void Its Patents

Activists in several countries are seeking to void patents on the blockbuster hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, saying that the price being sought by the manufacturer, Gilead Sciences, was prohibitive.

The Initiative for Medicines, Access and Knowledge, a legal group in New York, is expected to announce Wednesday that it has filed challenges in Argentina, Brazil, China, Russia and Ukraine. In all those countries except China, the organization is being joined by local patient advocacy groups.

The actions are a sign that the controversy over Sovaldi is spreading beyond the United States, where the $84,000 charge for a course of treatment has strained Medicaid budgets, to middle-income countries.

Read more...

Charity attacks Gilead over hepatitis C drug restrictions

(Reuters) - Charity Medecins Sans Frontieres has accused U.S. drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc GILD.O of restricting access to its breakthrough hepatitis C drug Sovaldi in developing countries as it tries to protect profit margin in wealthier nations.

MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said Gilead's restrictions aimed to stop discounted supplies of Sovaldi being diverted to patients from rich countries, but that the effort had resulted in "multiple restrictions and demands" on people receiving treatment in poor countries.

It said Gilead was excluding people without national identity documents, a move that hurts migrants, refugees and marginalized patients.

Read more...

Spain: Hepatitis C patients’ demonstration calls for blanket provision of state-of-the-art medication

AT LEAST 4,000 Hepatitis C patients and their relatives and friends took to the streets of Madrid yesterday (Sunday) calling for the government to agree to their being given the correct medication once and for all.

Latest-generation pills which, in most cases, successfully treat the liver disease are not fully available on the Spanish health service at present because of their high cost.

Those who have been denied this medication say they are up against the clock and that if they do not get it soon, it will be too late.

Read more...

Gilead faces challenge to European patent on pricey hep C drug

Feb 10 (Reuters) - Global health charity Medecins du Monde (MdM) launched a legal challenge on Tuesday to a European patent held by U.S. drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc which it accused of charging "exorbitant" prices for a hepatitis C drug.

Arguing that Gilead is "abusing" its patent on Sovaldi, known generically as sofosbuvir, MdM said its challenge marked the first time in Europe a medical charity has used this method to try and improve patients' access to medicines.

"While using sofosbuvir to treat hepatitis C represents a major therapeutic advance, the molecule itself, which is the result of work by many public and private researchers, is not sufficiently innovative to warrant a patent," MdM said in a statement.

Read more....

Spain vows hepatitis C action after calls for new drugs

Madrid (AFP) - Spain's government Monday promised new measures to fight hepatitis C, following protests by patients who complained authorities were denying them the latest drugs to treat the deadly liver disease.

A new committee will draw up a proposal within three weeks of examining the extent of the illness and clinical criteria, aiming to "include newly authorised drugs" in treatment plans, the health ministry said in a statement.

But it did not specify whether it would widen access to the latest generation of hepatitis drugs to more patients as campaigners in Spain and other countries are demanding.

Read more...

Spain: Health Thousands Protest in Spain for Better Hepatitis C Treatment

Thousands of people affected by hepatitis C have marched in several Spanish cities to press for easier access to latest-generation medicines for the deadly liver disease.

The Platform of People Affected by Hepatitis C, which organized the protests, says the government is applying a "confused and selective" approach to treatment by not providing expensive drugs to all patients equally.

One protest started early Saturday at Madrid's 12 de Octubre hospital and marched 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's office.

Read more...