New Hepatitis C Drug Has Whopping $1K Price Tag
Hepatitis C, a dangerous liver disease, affects more than three million U.S. citizens. Scientists have developed a pill that can treat it, but unfortunately it comes with a downside for people’s pocketbook.
The cost of the new drug, Sovaldi, is a whopping $1,000 per pill – a full course of treatment will cost people $84,000. Due to the expense, many insurance companies do not want to cover the pill’s cost.
Besides being an effective treatment for Hepatitis C, one of the best things about this pill though is that it’s got little to no negative side effects.
Sovaldi has been dubbed a breakthrough cure but it’s under fire from many U.S. senators for its expense. Product manufacturers, Gilead, had a 56% profit in its second-quarter trading and an overall profit of nearly $3.5 billion. Senators have said the pill’s selling price should be cut in half to make it more available to sufferers. Many other similar drugs about to be introduced to the market could cause the company to significantly drop its price.
The drug, which has a 12-week treatment regime, has had a high cure rate in people who do use it. It’s believed it can save the lives of the 80,000 people a year who succumb from the liver-disease. It could also save the healthcare system billions of dollars spent on patients who suffer from the blood-borne liver disease and are in liver failure.
Some states, because of the insurance expense, have limited access to the drugs, giving priority to only those people who are deemed sickest. Yes, the drug has a huge monetary risk associated with it, but it can yield high rewards by curing the disease.
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