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GILD >wonder how much of this goes on...

How I Got the $84,000 Hepatitis C Drug For $1500 by Buying It From India

http://www.alternet.org/personal-health/84000-hep-c-drug-only-1500

I did some internet sleuthing, found that Harvoni from Indian pharmaceutical house Natco is sold as Hepcinat LP, and quickly discovered dozens of online vendors ready, willing and eager to sell it to me. I made my inquiries in the heady days of rollout last fall and got price quotes ranging from $500 to $2,500. I eventually decided to go with a company called Care Exim, which offered the pills for $1,500. (The cost is significantly lower now. In searches I made while writing this, some quotes were around $500 for the complete course of treatment. Care Exim now says it can provide Hepcinat for $1,050 for the full course of treatment.)

It felt kind of sketchy, however. I was dealing with unknown online drug purveyors based on the other side of the planet. They didn't take credit cards—payment took the form of a bank transfer—and didn't require a prescription. They were happy to ship to the United States even though doing so violated U.S. customs regulations and they were quick with assurances that it would get through with "no problem." Was it a scam? Was I buying counterfeit drugs? Those were the questions I weighed, balanced against the possibility of being cured at a cost I could (barely) afford.

I paid my money and I took my chances. The package arrived in nine days, untouched by customs. There were indeed three bottles of pills labeled as Hepcinat LP manufactured by Natco, with seals and even a folded paper insert with all the drug information on it. I took the pills for 83 days (saving one for possible testing just in case), waited a couple of weeks, then went to my doctor and had my blood drawn. The following week, he reported that my hepatitis C viral load was now zero. I was cured.