同意老李说的啊,穷人像吃药吃不起,liberal议员们立刻挺身而出来干预价格,结果小
药股倒霉了。
不过青蛙相信gild的定价是经得起考验的。
The outcry about Gilead Sciences' $84,000 price for its hepatitis C wonder
drug, Sovaldi, just got louder. Rep. Henry Waxman and several Democratic
colleagues in Congress wrote Gilead CEO John Martin an excoriating letter on
Friday, demanding to know why the drug costs so much--and whether Gilead ($
GILD) is doing anything to make sure that poor patients get access to it.
"The costs are likely too high for many patients, both those with public
insurance and private insurance," the letter stated. Not to mention
taxpayers--the bulk of hepatitis C sufferers are either low-income patients
on Medicaid, veterans treated by the Veterans Administration, or prisoners,
whose care is government-financed.
By itself, the letter might not amount to much. As Reuters points out, the
signatories are minority-party types in the House of Representatives. Some
industry analysts figure the protestations are a lot of talk that will lead
to little action. The facts are these: The FDA has no power over pricing.
Attempts to grant Medicare negotiating power have fallen flat. And Gilead is
a veteran of the pricing protest, experienced at soldiering forward in
spite of the flak
--------------------
Cara Miller, a spokeswoman for Gilead, defended the drug's pricing in an
emailed statement: "While Sovaldi greatly enhances the standard of care for
hepatitis C, it was priced such that the total regimen cost is equal to that
of prior standard of care regimens.
"Sovaldi reduces total treatment costs for HCV – taking into account the
cost of medications (including those for side effects or complications) and
healthcare visits – and it represents a finite cure, an important point to
consider when comparing the price of a pill or bottle to the lifetime costs
of treating a chronic disease."