Can The $1,125 Per Pill Hepatitis C Drug Price Be Justified

California pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences has developed medication to better treat Hepatitis C, with each pill costing $1,125, SF Gate reports. Can the pill’s huge price tag be justified?

A spokeswoman from the company says the medication, Harvoni, “offers a cure at a price that will significantly reduce hepatitis C treatment costs now and deliver significant health care savings to the health care system over the long-term.”

However, CEO of the National Coalition on Health Care says, “Medicaid is going to have real trouble paying for it, the (Veterans Affairs) system is going to have real trouble paying for it, private insurance is going to have trouble paying for it. I think they missed an opportunity to put a lifesaving drug within the reach of most Americans.”

Harvoni combines an older Hepatitis C drug, Sovaldi, with the newer one, ledipasvir. It is very effective, able to “cure more than 80 percent of patients with few side effects.”

Summary by MedicalGroups.com

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