New Medical Treatment for Hepatitis C; Only Accessible for the Rich in the U.S.

By Bill Hackwell on January 11, 2016

Caption: Photo: Bill Hackwell, January 11 demonstration outside of invitation only investor’s event in San Francisco against obscene profits made by Gilead Sciences Inc.

Photo: Bill Hackwell, January 11 demonstration outside of invitation only investor’s event in San Francisco against obscene profits made by Gilead Sciences Inc.

There is nothing that reveals the ever widening disparity of wealth and access to health in the U.S. quite like the pharmaceutical corporations and their profits. In the richest country in the world health and medicine is a for profit industry with patient care based on who can pay. Perhaps the most dramatic example is a new extraordinary treatment now available for people with life threatening hepatitis C. Harvoni is the new pill that has a 95% cure rate. All it takes is one pill a day with limited side effects taken for 12 weeks.

The problem is that Harvoni is owned by Gilead Sciences Inc. and they get to set the price. In the capitalist world that means maximizing profits is the only consideration. Currently this life or death drug costs $1000 per pill which means the course of treatment has a nearly $100,000 price tag. According to Dr. Diana Sylvestre with the community based, nonprofit, O.A.S.I.S. Clinic in Oakland California, “Gilead is anticipating record profits of $30 billion from 2015, while virtually eliminating its medication assistance program.” In other words denying access to marginalized populations like the ones the O.A.S.I.S. Clinic serves.

There are over 3 million people in the U.S. who have hepatitis C and the highest risk groups are prisoners and homeless people who are also among the least likely to receive any health care at all, let alone expensive drugs like Harvoni. One of those incarcerated with hep C is political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal.

It actually wouldn’t be that hard to eliminate the hepatitis C epidemic that has raged for years now. One approach could be that Gilead is forced by the government to turn over all the Harvoni to the Department of Health for distribution, who would in turn launch a national campaign that encouraged everyone to be tested regardless of who they are and if they are positive they could go to any hospital and start receiving the 12 week treatment for free. Wait…. that would be a society that places access to health a universal right instead of the right of a few to make obscene profits which is the way it is now.

For more information on the battle against the Hep C epidemic go to: www.oasisclinic.org

Source: Resumen Latinoamericano