New hepatitis C treatment far too expensive for R.I. prisons

[Disir]

New drugs are proving exceptionally effective at treating hepatitis C, but their jaw-dropping price tags are making it difficult for prison officials to decide when to treat inmates and how to pay for their care.In fact, a new study by Brown University — which was based on research conducted in Rhode Island at the Adult Correctional Institutions — finds that it would cost double the prison's entire health budget to treat all of its chronically ill inmates.Even limiting prescriptions of the drugs to just the sickest would be financially overwhelming, consuming the pharmacy budget several times over.

"With immense costs projected with new treatment, it is unlikely that correctional facilities will have the capacity to treat all those afflicted," the study concludes. "Alternative payment strategies in collaboration with outside programs may be necessary to curb this epidemic. In order to improve care and treatment delivery, drug costs also need to be seriously reevaluated to be more accessible and equitable."

None of this comes as any surprise to Dr. Fred Vohr, medical director for the Department of Corrections and a member of the study research team. The prisons have long been known to harbor disproportionate numbers of people with hepatitis C, which is spread when infected intravenous drug users share needles.And the cost of drugs that first became widely available in the last one to two years, is about $1,400 a day, Vohr said. Patients are typically put on either a 12-week or a 14-week regimen.

"We're stuck with a problem where we are obligated to pay for the reasonable and proper care of people who are here," said Vohr. "Now comes a very good drug with around a 90-percent cure rate ... but it's very expensive.""It's a conundrum," said Vohr. "It's a huge national problem."Vohr said he has already exhausted the $2.7-million budget for pharmaceuticals, which is part of the overall health budget of $19.3 million.To date, he said, nine very ill patients have been treated with new hepatitis C drugs, and the state absorbed the costs of all but one, whose treatment was paid for by the state where he resides.
New hepatitis C treatment far too expensive for R.I. prisons - News - providencejournal.com - Providence RI

They lose insurance when they are locked up.

 

[Sonny Clark]

New drugs are proving exceptionally effective at treating hepatitis C, but their jaw-dropping price tags are making it difficult for prison officials to decide when to treat inmates and how to pay for their care.In fact, a new study by Brown University — which was based on research conducted in Rhode Island at the Adult Correctional Institutions — finds that it would cost double the prison's entire health budget to treat all of its chronically ill inmates.Even limiting prescriptions of the drugs to just the sickest would be financially overwhelming, consuming the pharmacy budget several times over.

"With immense costs projected with new treatment, it is unlikely that correctional facilities will have the capacity to treat all those afflicted," the study concludes. "Alternative payment strategies in collaboration with outside programs may be necessary to curb this epidemic. In order to improve care and treatment delivery, drug costs also need to be seriously reevaluated to be more accessible and equitable."

None of this comes as any surprise to Dr. Fred Vohr, medical director for the Department of Corrections and a member of the study research team. The prisons have long been known to harbor disproportionate numbers of people with hepatitis C, which is spread when infected intravenous drug users share needles.And the cost of drugs that first became widely available in the last one to two years, is about $1,400 a day, Vohr said. Patients are typically put on either a 12-week or a 14-week regimen.

"We're stuck with a problem where we are obligated to pay for the reasonable and proper care of people who are here," said Vohr. "Now comes a very good drug with around a 90-percent cure rate ... but it's very expensive.""It's a conundrum," said Vohr. "It's a huge national problem."Vohr said he has already exhausted the $2.7-million budget for pharmaceuticals, which is part of the overall health budget of $19.3 million.To date, he said, nine very ill patients have been treated with new hepatitis C drugs, and the state absorbed the costs of all but one, whose treatment was paid for by the state where he resides.
New hepatitis C treatment far too expensive for R.I. prisons - News - providencejournal.com - Providence RI

They lose insurance when they are locked up.

Very sad.

 

[waltky]

The cure is as bad as the disease...

Hepatitis C drugs tied to potentially lethal liver damage: US
23 Oct 2015 - Two drugs used to treat hepatitis C could cause liver damage, leading in some cases to death, the US Food and Drug Administration warned.

Some patients using Viekira Pak or Technivie were found to have experienced liver failure or related conditions, including some that resulted in a liver transplant or death, the health oversight agency reported. The worst outcomes were mostly in patients who had pre-existing liver cirrhosis. The drugs are manufactured by Chicago-based AbbVie. The company said in a statement that it was updating the safety risks on the drugs' labels, including to emphasize that the drugs should not be used by those with advanced cirrhosis, as the FDA findings required.

Some patients were found to have experienced liver failure or related conditions, including some that resulted in a liver transplant or death​

The FDA said at least 26 cases of liver damage that may be tied to the two drugs have been reported worldwide since the drugs were approved. Viekira Pak was approved for use in December 2014 and Technivie in July. AbbVie said that the causal link between the drugs and the reported liver injuries was still unclear. "Because post-marketing events are reported voluntarily during clinical practice, estimates of frequency cannot be made and a causal relationship between treatment and these events has not been established," it said.

The FDA, however, said the drugs "can cause serious liver injury mostly in patients with underlying advanced liver disease," though it warned patients to not stop taking the drugs without consulting their doctor since that could result in their hepatitis becoming resistant to other treatments. Hepatitis C, an infectious disease usually spread by unsanitary injection practices, itself targets the liver, though is only rarely life-threatening. AbbVie stock fell 10.35 percent on the news, to $48.26, while competitor Gilead Sciences, which markets two alternative hepatitis C treatments, jumped 5.77 percent to $107.60 over the same late afternoon period.

AFP.com

 

[waltky]

Profits ahead of patients...

Report: US Drugmaker Focused on Profits, Not Patients
December 01, 2015 - Setting cure for hepatitis C at $1,000 per pill put emphasis on revenue over access, senate panel says; treatment 'thoughtfully' priced, company counters

The makers of a breakthrough drug for hepatitis C put profits before patients in pricing the $1,000 pill that cures the liver-wasting disease, U.S. Senate investigators said Tuesday. A bipartisan report from the Senate Finance Committee concluded that California-based Gilead Sciences was focused on maximizing revenue even as the company's own analysis showed a lower price would allow more patients to be treated.

The headquarters of Gilead Sciences in Foster City, California​

Although the report focused on just one drug that has made headlines in the last few years, the lawmakers who led the investigation said their findings are a warning about what's to come with other high-priced treatments for cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's and HIV. “I'm telling you, this is the future,'' said Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat. “The future is going to be about specialty drugs.” In a statement, Gilead said it disagreed with the report's conclusions.

$84,000 for treatment

The company's first breakthrough pill was called Sovaldi; priced at $1,000 per pill, or $84,000 for a full course of treatment. Gilead has since introduced a more expensive next-generation pill called Harvoni, which is highly effective and simpler for patients to take. That one is priced at $94,500 for a course of treatment. “Gilead responsibly and thoughtfully priced Sovaldi and Harvoni,'' said the company's statement, noting that more than 600,000 patients have been treated worldwide since the introduction of Sovaldi two years ago.

Protesters demonstrate against high prices of pharmaceutical company Gilead​

But Wyden and Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican, said their 18-month investigation found that the high price tag significantly limited patient access and heaped huge costs on federal and state health care programs. Hepatitis C is a viral infection that affects some 3 million people in the U.S. and claims more lives here than AIDS. Patients say the disease feels like a bad flu that never goes away. While the illness advances gradually, it can ultimately destroy the liver, requiring a transplant to save the patient's life. The virus is primarily spread by contact with infected blood.

Baby boomers and Medicare

 

[Slyhunter]

My sister can't afford the cure but prisoners get it for free?

 

[Arianrhod]

My sister can't afford the cure but prisoners get it for free?

No,

Now, this will be the third time I've told you this and probably the third time you'll ignore it, but if your sister needs help with her payments, tell her to check out this information:

How to Pay for Costly Hepatitis C Drugs

 

[Slyhunter]

My sister can't afford the cure but prisoners get it for free?

No,

Now, this will be the third time I've told you this and probably the third time you'll ignore it, but if your sister needs help with her payments, tell her to check out this information:

How to Pay for Costly Hepatitis C Drugs

Dude i was making a point. My sister is getting the drug free from the manufacturer. We still have to figure out a way to pay for the blood tests every three weeks and the doctor visits though

Thanks for the link.

 

[MikeK]

This is an outstandingly good reason to legalize the use of heroin, making sterile, measured doses along with syringes and needles available from federally subsidized and supervised distribution centers at actual cost. (The actual cost of a single heroin dose is approximately twenty cents).

Whatever the cost to government to operate such a program nationwide it will be trivial compared with the cost of enforcing the wholly counterproductive enforcement of anti-heroin laws. It should be noted that if a clean, regular supply of the drug is available a heroin habit can be maintained with relatively little negative effect on a conservative user. Most of the negative effects of heroin use seen today is the result of the garbage distributed by the street trade and the hazards of septic introduction methods (dirty needles).