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Well, that is my estimate of what it will cost PBS if everybody was treated. Apparently there is a cap on what/how many the PBS scheme pays each year with the pharma companies paying for any patients that want treatment and exceed that cap. That is why my proviso that we would need to treat approx. 46,000 per year (actually a ramping qty over time) and we still pay the same if we don’t meet that target. The figures are a bit rubbery as always when dealing with these sort of things but I suspect the Pharma’s are betting on not having to treat anywhere near that number. James put together some figures based on the best knowledge available just after the initial announcement per below blog.
http://fixhepc.com/blog/item/32-pbs-listing-heaven-or-hell-the-devil-is-in-the-details.html
The other point is that proposed guidelines seem to indicate state of the art Tx for G1 & G3 but only Sof/Riba for G2 and an evil Sof/Riba/Interferon brew for G4,5,6.
My (really Jimmy’s) generics suggestion costing uses Sof/Dac or Sof/Led for all genotypes. And still much cheaper!
G3a since ’78 – Dx ’12 – F4 (2xHCC)
24wk Tx – PEG/Riba/Dac 2013 relapsed
24wk Tx – Generic Sof/Dac/Riba 2015/16 relapsed
16wk Tx – 12/01/17 -> 03/05/17 NS3/NS5a + Generic Sof
SVR7 – 22/06/17 UND
SRV12 – 27/07/17 UND
SVR24 – 26/10/17 UND
sabrecat wrote:I expect now that the PBS (and then Gilead) pays, it is up to everyone to make the effort to look after themselves and take on treatment. Yes and for those whom the queue it too long there is the option of generics if they self pay
Using generics would be justice for Gilead’s greed, but now that they have supposedly agreed to limit their greed………? A devil’s advocate would ask what was an acceptable level to limit greed to? I’m not certain I know the answer to that?
I expect that people getting help for treatment with DAA’s is more likely to happen if their liver clinic/specialist simply writes a PBS script rather than frets over generics? And with people being told that treatment that is paid under the PBS is now available. Well, yes…..unless you happen to be one of the 10% who are G2,4,5 or 6 who wants something more than second class citizenship.
The Medicare and PBS setup here in Australia is for everyone who is sick whatever the cause……. yes, but again see my answer to the previous question.
Just some things I was thinking about…….
Whatever happens, now I am UND and have experienced some weeks of a fuller life rather than the half life/fatigue crap one I have lived in the later part of my 25 years of having HepC. I wish others can get a bit of the same as well. Definitely, both fellow Australians and the international community deserve it.
While I cannot ever say that things are now ‘all good’, some people in Tassie and other cyberspace type places, made a game changer. Again thanks for that. There appears now to be two ways of getting the meds where before for me at least there was none. Yes, many thanks!
J.
Sabrecat,
I largely agree your sentiments when translated to the realities of politics and commerce but the idealist/perfectionist in me says we could do better and cheaper both for Australians and as models for the international community. Something to dream of and work towards.
G3a since ’78 – Dx ’12 – F4 (2xHCC)
24wk Tx – PEG/Riba/Dac 2013 relapsed
24wk Tx – Generic Sof/Dac/Riba 2015/16 relapsed
16wk Tx – 12/01/17 -> 03/05/17 NS3/NS5a + Generic Sof
SVR7 – 22/06/17 UND
SRV12 – 27/07/17 UND
SVR24 – 26/10/17 UND
Wow A.L. You must be either filthy rich or have not been bedridden for years and riddled with secondary issues and lost your income after years of professional career which you loved and had to raise a family and and and and gosh! I don’t get into confrontation usually but I won’t accept that this billion buck beast has or is doing the right thing.
Yes I too have lost way way too many people thankyou I share your empathy berrinice yes same back at you hugs x
On the subject of vitamins, I would note that most people are unlikely to develop serious, debilitating illness or die if the vitamin manufacturers price their product at levels that exclude all except the wealthiest individuals. Therefore the choice to purchase their products or not ultimately comes down to personal choice and belief systems.
Thanks Greedfighter – you know why
G3a since ’78 – Dx ’12 – F4 (2xHCC)
24wk Tx – PEG/Riba/Dac 2013 relapsed
24wk Tx – Generic Sof/Dac/Riba 2015/16 relapsed
16wk Tx – 12/01/17 -> 03/05/17 NS3/NS5a + Generic Sof
SVR7 – 22/06/17 UND
SRV12 – 27/07/17 UND
SVR24 – 26/10/17 UND
sabrecat wrote:…. at least for us in AUS that now have the PBS issue settled.
Maybe…..I’ve stated previously that I will wait and see. If nothing else, this virus has taught me how to wait and in my lifetime I have seen many a slip twixt politician’s press statement and outcome. And don’t forget the stated “within a generation”.
sabrecat wrote:But, there are those in other countries part of me cannot ignore…….
True, and while this site was started by a Tasmanian doctor, it isn’t just for Australians and is reaching more and more people around the world everyday.
I do understand and accept the wish of people after treatment, to put this disease behind them and move on with the rest of their life. That is a natural inclination and necessary for many. I may well find myself feeling the same in 4 or 10 months time, another case of wait and see.
But for now if I can contribute to helping others seeking treatment for HCV then I am glad to do so. And that includes pointing out the excessive greed of Gilead and better ways that our government, and others, could work to extinguish this virus much as former generations did with polio, smallpox and many other diseases.
over.
G3a since ’78 – Dx ’12 – F4 (2xHCC)
24wk Tx – PEG/Riba/Dac 2013 relapsed
24wk Tx – Generic Sof/Dac/Riba 2015/16 relapsed
16wk Tx – 12/01/17 -> 03/05/17 NS3/NS5a + Generic Sof
SVR7 – 22/06/17 UND
SRV12 – 27/07/17 UND
SVR24 – 26/10/17 UND
sabrecat wrote:Hello A.L.
maybe it is time we did move on – at least for us in AUS that now have the PBS issue settled. But, there are those in other countries part of me cannot ignore, and hence the sideswipe at Gilead….
But now there is to be affordable treatment here in AUS, we seem to be sharing more and more about improvements in LFT’s, VL=UND!!, life in general and sharing experiences about life, before and now, and what the ‘new future’ may hold.
I would’ve bought from Gilead, but chose generics on price considerations. My choice and all good!
I think having HCV for many years can leave people, me at least, a bit opinionated, but most of the time I look at my signature below on this forum, again ALL GOOD.
I hope you can share yours here too.
Yours
J.
Thanks, J. Yes, I also hope I can post a success story, also being a benefactor of the low prices that FixHepC has organised. I’ve said most of what I intended and don’t need to add much more (for now
)But if I can add one tiny parting point, the generics are also produced under licence from Gilead, just in countries whose governments knew how to argue and apply pressure effectively. The big question is why are the Hep C sufferers being given such lousy choices in the USA in particular? It’s obscene, but all legal.
Who is more guilty here, the greedy company, or the national political culture that allows them completely uninhibited expression of that greed? (In another post I note that plenty of other companies are exhibiting the same kind of behaviour.)
(It’s like having a fat dog. Some kinds of dog will just eat and eat if you let them, and so become very fat. Who is to blame – the dog, or its owner and leader?)
Looking to a better future,
A.L.
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