On June 29th, 2020, while America remained transfixed by anti-police protests, the chairman and CEO of the pharmaceutical company Gilead issued a much-anticipated announcement. In a breezy open letter, Daniel O’Day explained how much his company planned on charging for a course of remdesivir, one of many possible treatments for Covid-19. “In the weeks since we learned of remdesivir’s potential against Covid-19, one topic has attracted more speculation than any other: what price we might set for the medicine,” O’Day wrote, before plunging into a masterpiece of corporate doublespeak.
The CEO noted a study by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a division of the National Institutes of Health, showing that Covid-19 patients taking remdesivir recovered after 11 days, compared with 15 days for placebo takers. In the U.S., he wrote, “earlier hospital discharge would result in hospital savings of approximately $12,000 per patient.”
The hilarious implication seemed to be that by shortening hospital stays by four days on average, remdesivir was worth $48,000 a dose. That O’Day might come to such […]
Wow. That is greed and social vampirism beyond one’s wildest imagination. I think of the $420.00 per month asthma medicine I take and depend on – obviously without medicare I would not be able to afford it. Last time I checked, when I went to Mexico, it was $50.00 in the Pharmacia. Rather a large difference………….
I have much empathy for you Lauren and wish I could help you if I wasn’t a poor person myself, and can barely keep up with my wife’s 12 prescriptions for diabetes and heart problems.