It is highly cost-effective at the $84,000 price, but....
Lynn C. Klotz, Ph.D
For those infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), the new drug Sovaldi seems like a godsend. As one part of a triple-drug therapy, it cures over 90% of infections in twelve weeks with few side effects for most HCV genotypes. Older HCV cures require many pills daily, have serious side effects, and cure only 75% of patients. But Sovaldi’s $84,000 price tag threatens to prevent widespread use...
At Sovaldi’s present price, there is considerable resistance to diagnosing and treating everyone. State Medicaid programs, and likely many private insurers as well, are restricting Sovaldi to patients who have progressed beyond chronic HCV infection into cirrhosis. The State of Illinois has 25 criteria for prior approval and will not pay for patients with a history of drug and alcohol abuse. Since former and current drug users comprise the biggest infected group, not many in Illinois will be eligible for treatment. For now, Texas does not cover Sovaldi or Olysio. A majority of the medical experts in the California Technology Assessment Forum decided both Sovaldi and Olysio should be used only on patients with severe liver complications....
Perhaps it is because insurance trumps big pharm when it comes to having one's way.
ReplyDeleteDoctors who see their patients and know them should be able to choose. Not insurance companies or the govt who are out to save or make money. Yes Solvaldi is a great drug, so is Harvoni, but Gilead is being greedy. Period!
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