Attention: If you know of people who are suing or if you are suing, please contact me at alanfranciscus@hcvadvocate.org

There are many insurance companies that are denying coverage of HCV medications to only the sickest of patients. I am working on a brief article describing why people are filing lawsuits against these insurance companies. It will be a brief overview, and I will not be using names. I am looking for quotes from people who are suing or are thinking of suing insurance companies. For example, one person told me that to be turned down for the HCV medications wasn’t medically ethical or morally just and from a monetary standpoint they were angry because they had been paying their medical premiums their entire life. Now when they needed their insurance, the company bailed on them.

Local woman sues Anthem Blue Cross for denying Hepatitis C drug

LOS ANGELES (KABC) --A Los Angeles woman is suing Anthem Blue Cross claiming the insurance company is denying her coverage for a Hepatitis C drug that could cure her.

Jane Blumenfeld said it has been 14 years of fear and uncertainty since she was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. She does not know when her health could take a turn for the worst.

It all started when she tried to donate blood.

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Prisoners Sue Massachusetts for Withholding Hepatitis C Drugs

In the latest example of how the high price tags for hepatitis C drugs are limiting use in some of the most infected populations, two inmates in Massachusetts state prisons have filed a lawsuit accusing the state prison system of failing to provide the drugs to most infected prisoners.

More than 1,500 inmates in Massachusetts state prisons have hepatitis C, but only three are being treated for it, the lawsuit states, even though Gilead Sciences GILD +1.24% and AbbVie ABBV -0.29% introduced drugs since late 2013 that have higher cure rates and shorter treatment durations than older hepatitis C regimens.

“Prisoners who ought to receive the new medications are not receiving them, and a vast number of prisoners with Hepatitis C are not being afforded the necessary testing to determine whether they too should receive treatment,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Boston.

Lawyers from Prisoners’ Legal Services, a non-profit advocacy group, filed the lawsuit on behalf of inmates Emilian Paszko and Jeffrey Fowler. The lawsuit seeks class-action status on behalf of other Massachusetts inmates infected with hepatitis C who have been denied treatment.

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Minnesota prison inmates sue to gain access to costly hepatitis C medications

Two prisoners have sued the state, highlighting a national dilemma: tax money going for expensive treatments.

Two inmates are suing the ­Minnesota Department of Corrections seeking access to costly drug treatments for hepatitis C, a serious liver condition that in many cases can be cured with a new generation of medications.

Filed in federal court this month, the lawsuit taps into a national debate over how prison systems can afford the costly new drugs, some of which carry a sticker price of $1,000 per pill and $90,000 for the full treatment.

In a written statement, the Corrections Department said that it could not comment on the lawsuit, but added: “It is not true that offenders do not have access to the new ­medications.”

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Blue Cross Withholds Cure from Hepatitis C Patients, Lawsuit Claims

LOS ANGELES, May 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Shernoff Bidart Echeverria Bentley LLP filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court today accusing Blue Cross of withholding a cure for Hepatitis C based only upon profits, in violation of California law.

The plaintiff, Shima Andre, suffers from Hepatitis C, a contagious liver disease that can lead to complications including severe liver damage, infections, cirrhosis, liver cancer, and even death. But a new treatment is radically changing the lives of those living with Hepatitis C.  The treatment—Harvoni— was just approved by the FDA in 2014 and was even designated as a “breakthrough therapy” for its revolutionary ability to treat and cure Hepatitis C. In clinical trials, Harvoni cured Hepatitis C in 95-99% of patients within only twelve weeks.

But according to the lawsuit, Blue Cross has arbitrarily chosen to give the treatment only to those patients suffering from the worst stages of liver damage. Despite the opinions of other patients’ treating doctors,  they are told by Blue Cross that they must wait for the cure, suffer serious liver damage, and only then will they be eligible for Harvoni. No known medical study supports this decision—and no part of Shima’s insurance policy grants Blue Cross this arbitrary authority.

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UK: Victims of contaminated NHS blood launch legal case

Three men who contracted hepatitis C from contaminated imported blood have begun a legal case in the UK to challenge the compensation scheme.

They say it is unfair under disability discrimination because other patients in the same scandal have more favourable terms.

A new parliamentary report says around 7,500 patients were infected by imported blood products.

The government said it was considering improvements to the support system.

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