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Hep C Discussion Forum -> Hep C News -> NY State poised to deny Hep C TX
Post Info TOPIC: NY State poised to deny Hep C TX
Groupergetter


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NY State poised to deny Hep C TX
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Thanks RR for sharing.  While treating all is clearly the ideal, in reality until the price comes down it's not going to happen. IMO, the article is basically an attempt to garner public support for eased dispensing guidelines.  It appears the current AASLD guidelines are being imposed/applied.  Never been much on oversized "donate" buttons.     

Speaking of which, one must go to the home page and discretely placed in the lower left corner is a "contribute" link not seen on other pages in the forum.  This is a worthwhile function. aww



-- Edited by Groupergetter on Sunday 30th of November 2014 11:45:02 AM

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Isiscat2011


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P.S. AIDS activists are not responsible for payers' restrictive criteria.   Gilead's costs and their own interests are responsible for that.  And, this isn't only effecting the poor.  Private payers are restricting access to Harvoni too. 



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Isiscat2011


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Rubye wrote:

What's been of particular interest to me all along is the AIDS groups that have urged state Medicaid programs to deny coverage of Sovaldi. I'm not sure what their motivation is but I have no doubt much of the new criteria being set up by states to keep poor people from obtaining the new drugs is because of the influence of these AIDS groups.

As the following article relays, these groups have been campaigning against new Hep C drugs since they were FDA approved in January. I suppose much of their motivation is a fear of losing some of the huge amounts of federal dollars used to help people with HIV and AIDS.

www.cbc.ca/news/health/price-of-new-hepatitis-c-drug-questioned-by-u-s-medical-experts-1.2568495

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Their motivation is to force a reduction in price so that more patients can access HCV drugs (in the longer term).  Boycotts have proven efficacy in social change movements.  A significant percentage of HIV patients also have HCV. Removing Sovaldi from the Medicaid formulary is extreme, however, and would have dire consequences to patients in urgent need of HCV tx.   Extremism is not what is needed here, IMO.  

Michael Weinstein, who is the president of the Aids Healthcare Foundation, has been very outspoken about specialty drug prices.  He may have backed off the idea of a complete boycott of Gilead's drugs, however.  When Harvoni was FDA approved Weinstein was quoted as saying: 

 

"When history is written, this is going to be the breaking point where drug prices went completely out of control and nobody did anything about it," said Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "Never before has a drug been priced at this level for such a large population." About 25 percent of people with HIV infection are also infected with hepatitis C."

 

AIDS activists have been strong supporters of the HCV community.  In fact, that is where most of HCV's organized support is coming from. Unfortunately, the HCV community has done very little on its own in the USA.  Mostly we have just complained and demanded the drugs, but not much in the way of organizing or protesting, unfortunately.  

 



-- Edited by Isiscat2011 on Sunday 30th of November 2014 05:21:22 AM

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Tig


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Rubye wrote:


As the following article relays, these groups have been campaigning against new Hep C drugs since they were FDA approved in January. I suppose much of their motivation is a fear of losing some of the huge amounts of federal dollars used to help people with HIV and AIDS.

 I was just reading an article that said the same thing. There's going to be a fight for funding when these treatment dollars are reduced even further. As demand rises and finances disappear for any number of reasons, the gloves will come off. Who loses? The patient of course...

Tig



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Rubye


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What's been of particular interest to me all along is the AIDS groups that have urged state Medicaid programs to deny coverage of Sovaldi. I'm not sure what their motivation is but I have no doubt much of the new criteria being set up by states to keep poor people from obtaining the new drugs is because of the influence of these AIDS groups.

As the following article relays, these groups have been campaigning against new Hep C drugs since they were FDA approved in January. I suppose much of their motivation is a fear of losing some of the huge amounts of federal dollars used to help people with HIV and AIDS.

www.cbc.ca/news/health/price-of-new-hepatitis-c-drug-questioned-by-u-s-medical-experts-1.2568495


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Isiscat2011


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How to treat ~3 to 4 million people infected with HCV  in the USA is a complex problem.  Access to tx drugs is only one of the many issues.  Another huge issue is the lack of medical personnel and facilities to treat so many patients.  

Only certain specialists can prescribe the new all oral DAAs.  There is already a shortage of Hepatologists/GIs/IDs in the USA and that shortage is getting worse not better.  The point is this is a complex problem and there are no simple or quick solutions.  

Treatment of this many patients, by necessity, will have to be staggered in some fashion.  Aside from the question of pharma costs it will require billions of dollars and vast resources -- that are not presently available -- to treat all HCV patients.  At some point Congress will need to address the HCV problem in a meaningful way.  Reducing pharma costs is obviously necessary but it is only one piece of the larger picture.  



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Matt Chris


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Hey Roo

Thanks for posting that link, its good to see that some of the action groups are pushing this issue to the fore.

It's going to take lots of pressure from both Government and the people to put some teeth into the control of big pharma. Big Pharma needs to realize that if they don't rein themselves in and start lowering the cost of these new drugs they will be killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

matt



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Harvoninme


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Thanks for Sharing, RudiRoo. It's shameful. Many states are tightening up access. I may find myself volunteering for a few die-ins.

Excerpt:
"Tracy Swan of the Treatment Action Group made an analogy to healthcare that many have come to take for granted: We dont make HIV-positive people in New York wait for treatment until they have AIDS, we dont tell people who eat meat that they cant be treated for heart disease, and so we shouldnt withhold HCV treatment from people who need it. New York should not backslide into unethical cost-cutting."

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RudiRoo


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http://www.vocal-ny.org/blog/new-york-state-poised-to-deny-hepatitis-c-treatment-to-thousands/



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