Harvoni and its immediate predecessor Sovaldi are both manufactured and marketed by Gilead Sciences Inc. (Gilead) and are designed to treat and eradicate hepatitis C. Previous drugs have not been nearly as successful, and an outright cure for hepatitis C has been elusive. Harvoni and Sovaldi have come closest to delivering a complete cure, with outstanding success rates. Some doctors have hailed the dynamic duo as miracle drugs.
But it comes with a cost: $84,000 for Sovaldi and $94,500 for Harvoni. That money pays for one full treatment regimen each, lasting about 12 weeks. While such pricing strategy has resulted in massive revenue for Gilead ($10 billion in combined revenue based on US sales alone for the first nine months of 2015), insurance companies have been balking at the cost and denying patients the opportunity for treatment. Harvoni Denied Insurance Claim Lawsuits have followed.
Pundits suggest plaintiffs might do well to turn their wrath against Gilead, based on reams of documents recently made public in the wake of the congressional hearings.
Some 2,000 pages of documents were procured to facilitate the Senate Finance Committee investigation overseen by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). According to Wyden, at a press conference earlier this month, “the documents show that it was always Gilead’s plan to maximize ... revenue, and that affordability and accessibility were pretty much an afterthought,” the Senator said.
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Gilead also predicted that the firm’s pricing of Sovaldi (and subsequently Harvoni) would trigger a congressional inquiry. That inquiry came to pass.
Following release of the documents earlier this month, Gilead issued a statement confirming its belief that it had priced Sovaldi and Harvoni “responsibly and thoughtfully.”
Anyone currently litigating or considering a Gilead Hep C Denied Insurance Claim Lawsuit might well consider the thoughtful and responsible way in which important drugs are priced at over $1,000 per pill - pricing that foretold countless balks on the part of insurance companies and Medicaid to deny needed treatment.
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