A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows • Hacker News Board

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#21

Post by chimeracoder » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 9:26 PM UTC

metildaa wrote: post #16

tptacek wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds pretty inexpensive. It looks like the previous standard of care cost $10-15,000 and wasn't generally curative. Meanwhile, the long-term cost of a progressing hep-c infection is quite high.

In the context of a decietful medical system that bills pie in the sky amounts for rendering basic care, a $100k cure for Hepatitis C might seem reasonable. But those who need it most are dying due to this pricing scam, which is standard for our healthcare in the US.

> But those who need it most are dying due to this pricing scam, which is standard for our healthcare in the US.

Those who need it most are dying not due to the "pricing scam", but because they're incarcerated and therefore prohibited from receiving curative HCV treatment, at any price.

The sticker price is high, but it's meaningless, because almost nobody is going to be paying the sticker price.

Also, if you want to make a statement about healthcare pricing in the US, Sovaldi is literally the worst example you could pick. For the first few years after it was available outside the US, Sovaldi was significantly cheaper in the US than in it was elsewhere.

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#22

Post by killjoywashere » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 9:40 PM UTC

Interesting problem we're dealing with: Truvada potentially makes it harder to identify HIV+ blood donors (as their antibody titers fall naturally over time) and raises the question of whether HIV+ individuals will be more likely to attempt to donate in order to "prove they're safe". It is a well-known fact in their community that men having sex with men are deferred from being blood donors for 12 months from last male intercourse, and there is at least a vocal minority in the community which feels this is unjust. Presently, there is no approved question for the donor questionnairre along the lines of "Are you using Truvada?" but it is a hotly debated topic among blood bankers.

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#23

Post by metildaa » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 9:54 PM UTC

chimeracoder wrote: post #21

metildaa wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the context of a decietful medical system that bills pie in the sky amounts for rendering basic care, a $100k cure for Hepatitis C might seem reasonable. But those who need it most are dying due to this pricing scam, which is standard for our healthcare in the US.

> But those who need it most are dying due to this pricing scam, which is standard for our healthcare in the US. Those who need it most are dying not due to the "pricing scam", but because they're incarcerated and therefore prohibited from receiving curative HCV treatment, at any price. The sticker price is high, but it's meaningless, because almost nobody is going to be paying the sticker price. Also, if you want to…

There are 3 million people living in the US with Hepatitis C, many who are needlessly dying from it are not incarcerated. The sticker price is a scam to make insurers feel good when they get double digit percentage discounts, while still lining Gileads pockets.

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#24

Post by dawhizkid » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 9:57 PM UTC

And yet STD rates are skyrocketing in the US. I take Truvada but it’s used as an excuse in the gay commmunity to engage in unprotected sex. If anything the availability of Truvada is probably a leading cause of why STD rates in the gay community are increasing.

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#25

Post by metildaa » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 9:58 PM UTC

chimeracoder wrote: post #18

metildaa wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, there is big money to be made bilking insurers and citizens for as much money aas possible with crazy drug prices. This is what funds most of the ads we see for PreP, and also makes this treatment inaccessible to those who need it most.

> In the US, there is big money to be made bilking insurers and citizens for as much money aas possible with crazy drug prices. This is what funds most of the ads we see for PreP, and also makes this treatment inaccessible to those who need it most. This is wrong on so many levels. Most of the ads you see aren't funded by Gilead, or by any pharmaceutical company at all. They're funded by local agencies and nonprofits…

> Most of the ads you see aren't funded by Gilead, or by any pharmaceutical company at all. They're funded by local agencies and nonprofits tasked with HIV prevention efforts.

This differs significantly from what I see, the local agencies in my area are focused on providing testing, care and treatment, not funding advertising.

In the latter half of your comment, you literally described how this is set up to scam insurance. If one has insurance, everything is great, otherwise they get stuck without medication they need.

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#26

Post by JumpCrisscross » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 10:00 PM UTC

dawhizkid wrote: post #24

And yet STD rates are skyrocketing in the US. I take Truvada but it’s used as an excuse in the gay commmunity to engage in unprotected sex. If anything the availability of Truvada is probably a leading cause of why STD rates in the gay community are increasing.

> STD rates are skyrocketing in the US

Source? (If frequencies of curable STDs are rising while those of incurable ones are falling, that would be a good trade.)

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#27

Post by dawhizkid » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 10:03 PM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #26

dawhizkid wrote: post #24

And yet STD rates are skyrocketing in the US. I take Truvada but it’s used as an excuse in the gay commmunity to engage in unprotected sex. If anything the availability of Truvada is probably a leading cause of why STD rates in the gay community are increasing.

> STD rates are skyrocketing in the US Source? (If frequencies of curable STDs are rising while those of incurable ones are falling, that would be a good trade.)

Edit: common STDs that are treated by antibiotics are becoming drug resistant like anything can be that is treated with antibiotics. Point is don’t think because you can take an antibiotic and make syphilis go away now that you won’t encounter a drug resistant strain now or in the very near future!

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna642161

Lol there’s no cure for syphillis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, hep b, genital herpes, etc.

The recent year over year increase in STD rates in the US has been very well documented. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna904311

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#28

Post by tptacek » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 10:04 PM UTC

metildaa wrote: post #23

chimeracoder wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But those who need it most are dying due to this pricing scam, which is standard for our healthcare in the US. Those who need it most are dying not due to the "pricing scam", but because they're incarcerated and therefore prohibited from receiving curative HCV treatment, at any price. The sticker price is high, but it's meaningless, because almost nobody is going to be paying the sticker price. Also, if you want to…

There are 3 million people living in the US with Hepatitis C, many who are needlessly dying from it are not incarcerated. The sticker price is a scam to make insurers feel good when they get double digit percentage discounts, while still lining Gileads pockets.

I'm sympathetic to the argument, but it doesn't have much to do with my point, and I'm more interested in the economics of new therapies than I am in a moral or political debate about how medicine is financed.

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#29

Post by dimgl » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 10:05 PM UTC

dawhizkid wrote: post #27

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> STD rates are skyrocketing in the US Source? (If frequencies of curable STDs are rising while those of incurable ones are falling, that would be a good trade.)

Edit: common STDs that are treated by antibiotics are becoming drug resistant like anything can be that is treated with antibiotics. Point is don’t think because you can take an antibiotic and make syphilis go away now that you won’t encounter a drug resistant strain now or in the very near future! https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna642161 Lol there’s no cure for syphillis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, hep b, genital herp…

What are you talking about? There's cures for literally every single one of those diseases you mentioned.

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#30

Post by denzil_correa » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 10:06 PM UTC

Since April 1 2018, PrEP is subsidised by Australia under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). Thus, it costs $39.5 per script ($6.40 concessional rate) [0, 1]. Earlier, it could cost as high as $10,000 a year [2].

[0] https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/blog/Anti-HIV-drug-PrEP-to-b...

[1] https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/pharmaceutical-benefits-sche...

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/feb/08/hiv-p...