"The FixHepC Buyers Club has successfully helped patients with a doctor's prescription to arrange personal importation and testing of a course of the drugs for a fraction of the US cost - between $US930 ($A1292) and $US1980 ($A2795). The cure rates from these generic medications have reportedly been excellent with results posted on the fixhepc.com website."
A group of campaigning patients and doctors has launched a Dallas Buyers' Club-style operation to help Australia's estimated 233,000 hepatitis C sufferers get new life-saving drugs without paying astronomical bills.
The move comes after the Kirby Institute for infection and immunity in society published a report showing the number of Australians with hep-C related severe liver disease has more than doubled in 10 years.
The FixHepC Buyers Club has been set up to import new wonder drugs such as Harvoni and Sovaldi from China, instead of waiting for Gilead Sciences, the American pharmaceutical giant which owns the patents, to negotiate a price with the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/hepatitis-c-drug-buyers-club-aims-to-set-up-new-source-of-support-20150924-gjts1t.html#ixzz3mnntLHL7
Showing posts with label global access to cheap drugs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label global access to cheap drugs. Show all posts
Friday, September 25, 2015
Saturday, August 29, 2015
When US, UK doctors refuse to prescribe Indian drugs, it reeks of racism
Greg Jefferys, a 61-year-old historian and author from Australia, hit international headlines when he flew to Chennai to use generic sofosbuvir to successfully cure himself of Hepatitis C. He spent 1/100th — just about $1000 — the amount it would have cost him if he were to use the patented version. Jefferys has since helped hundreds of patients access the medicine cheaply from here. Talking to Rema Nagarajan, Jefferys strongly criticises big pharma and the patent regime that is putting life-saving medicines beyond the reach of patients and allowing companies to make 'obscene profits'
Did you have concerns regarding the safety and quality of the Indian Sofosbuvir?
I have no concerns about Indian generics generally. In all areas of the world, there are issues of quality control and there are good companies and not-so-good companies. India has some of the largest and best pharmaceutical manufacturers in the world. I actually get really angry when doctors in the UK or the US refuse to prescribe life-saving drugs because they are made in India. It reeks of racism or post-colonial arrogance! Did you know that I have had dozens of emails from people in the UK with hep C who have tried to get a prescription for Indian Sofosbuvir and not one doctor in all of the UK would write it for these people. But I have had two prescriptions for Indian Sofosbuvir from the UK. One was from a doctor who had hep C himself and the other was from a doctor whose best friend had hep C. None other than that! It astounds me. Tens of thousands of people in the UK are suffering and dying simply because their GPs refuse to write them a prescription for Indian generic medicines!
Read more...
Did you have concerns regarding the safety and quality of the Indian Sofosbuvir?
I have no concerns about Indian generics generally. In all areas of the world, there are issues of quality control and there are good companies and not-so-good companies. India has some of the largest and best pharmaceutical manufacturers in the world. I actually get really angry when doctors in the UK or the US refuse to prescribe life-saving drugs because they are made in India. It reeks of racism or post-colonial arrogance! Did you know that I have had dozens of emails from people in the UK with hep C who have tried to get a prescription for Indian Sofosbuvir and not one doctor in all of the UK would write it for these people. But I have had two prescriptions for Indian Sofosbuvir from the UK. One was from a doctor who had hep C himself and the other was from a doctor whose best friend had hep C. None other than that! It astounds me. Tens of thousands of people in the UK are suffering and dying simply because their GPs refuse to write them a prescription for Indian generic medicines!
Read more...
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
US hepatitis C patients travel to India for cheaper Sovaldi versions
Patients in the US and Europe have struggled to get access to the drug after insurers and governments limited its use to the sickest patients to control costs
New York/Mumbai: This is how far one Express Scripts Holding Co. executive was willing to go to secure inexpensive versions of Gilead Sciences Inc.’s hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, unavailable to US consumers under federal drug import and patent laws.
His plan: Dock a cruise ship flying an Indian flag off the coast of Miami. Stock the ship with versions of Sovaldi sold in India for $83,000 less than the US retail price for 12 weeks of treatment. Ferry US patients to the boat and send them home with the potentially life-saving medicines at a huge discount.
The only wrinkle in his plan wasn’t the absurdity of a pharmacy benefit manager manning and operating a cruise ship full of drugs from India. The problem, after doing some quick research into the idea, was that it would probably violate US drug re-importation laws that limit the value of drugs brought into the country to $1,500—the price of one and a half Sovaldi tablets in the US, said Steve Miller, chief medical officer at Express Scripts, who came up with the idea.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
India, Pharmacy to the Developing World, Must Honor IP Rights
The United States and India are locked in a vitriolic debate over intellectual property rights in the pharmaceutical sector. The tension between pharmaceutical patents and access to affordable medicines took center stage during President Obama’s three-day visit to India in January. For several years the United States has been increasing the pressure on India to adopt intellectual property protections similar to those of the U.S. and the European Union, without avail. According to the 2015 U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Intellectual Property Index, India ranks 29th among 30 nations in their protection for intellectual property rights. The report scores nations in several IP dimensions, out of a maximum of 30 points. India scored 7.23 points, only Thailand was ranked lower, while the U.S., the highest-ranked country, scored 28.53 points.[1]
Claiming to be the “Pharmacy to the Developing World”, India argues that their lax intellectual property rights regime is critical to their ability to provide low-cost, quality generic drugs. They are wrong on two counts. First, India needs to honor IP rights, because without effective intellectual property rights, new pharmaceuticals will not be developed and the “Pharmacy to the Developing World” won’t have anything to provide to the developing world, or to anyone. Second, given the quality crisis in the Indian pharmaceutical industry, they shouldn’t be the pharmacy to anyone.
In early January 2015, the Indian government rejected Gilead Sciences Inc’s patent application for its Hepatitis C drug Sovaldi. This comes on the heels of numerous other attacks on pharmaceutical patents. As of mid-2014, India had “denied, revoked or otherwise attacked” the patents of 15 of the approximate 45 patented medicines on the Indian market.[2] The result is a regime of protectionism that coddles Indian industry at the cost of U.S. jobs. The pharmaceutical industry is but one of many industries experiencing such treatment. While the United States has welcomed Indian firms, India has shunned innovative U.S. firms. As described in his Pre-Hearing Statement to the U.S. International Trade Commission, Rod Hunter notes that Indian pharmaceutical firms have enjoyed unfettered access to the sizeable U.S. market.
Read more...
Claiming to be the “Pharmacy to the Developing World”, India argues that their lax intellectual property rights regime is critical to their ability to provide low-cost, quality generic drugs. They are wrong on two counts. First, India needs to honor IP rights, because without effective intellectual property rights, new pharmaceuticals will not be developed and the “Pharmacy to the Developing World” won’t have anything to provide to the developing world, or to anyone. Second, given the quality crisis in the Indian pharmaceutical industry, they shouldn’t be the pharmacy to anyone.
In early January 2015, the Indian government rejected Gilead Sciences Inc’s patent application for its Hepatitis C drug Sovaldi. This comes on the heels of numerous other attacks on pharmaceutical patents. As of mid-2014, India had “denied, revoked or otherwise attacked” the patents of 15 of the approximate 45 patented medicines on the Indian market.[2] The result is a regime of protectionism that coddles Indian industry at the cost of U.S. jobs. The pharmaceutical industry is but one of many industries experiencing such treatment. While the United States has welcomed Indian firms, India has shunned innovative U.S. firms. As described in his Pre-Hearing Statement to the U.S. International Trade Commission, Rod Hunter notes that Indian pharmaceutical firms have enjoyed unfettered access to the sizeable U.S. market.
Read more...
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