For me, that was a "fluff" article.
These news "stories" are long on anecdote and short on facts.
They will always go to what Gilead used to charge for a HCV treatment back when there was no meaningful competition. The thing people are to think is; $84K for a treatment and people are hurting. (Sovaldi in 2013 was priced at $1,000 per pill and $84,000 for a full course of treatment )
Back when Mavyret was approved this was the price; "Abbvie has priced Mavyret at $13,200 per month, or $26,400 per treatment course, before discounts. Aug 23, 2017"
....Isn't that less than a third of the price the article trotted out as the high price of HCV treatment that is killing the budgets? That's not mentioned in the article. : )
Thank God Greg Alton is working on a net flicks style pricing solution. : )
Sample of the hyperbole; "GEE: To me, that is unacceptable, but it's also unacceptable for me to pay over $700 million and have to cut primary education, gut our payments to universities and decimate the health care delivery system for just one disease condition. It shouldn't have to be that way."
One could almost reasonably conclude $700 million is the cost to treat the 388 patients treated in Louisiana last year.
Per the before discounts price I quoted ($26400.) X 388, it works out to 10 million and the negotiated price is certainly under that. 7, 8, 9 million in reality?
-What does the $700 million refer to? The article doesn't say.
I do agree that they are gutting the education system.
The United States Secretary of Education is Betsy Devos who proposed that "guns might have a place in some schools due to a threat from grizzly bears." (Wiki)
Education is in danger, but not due to HCV prices or grizzlies, IMHO. : )
AI
