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Re:Remdesivir and chloroquine effectively inhibit coronaviru... by ChickeNES on Wednesday February 26, 2020 @04:01PM (#22427280)
> To put this in perspective, transmission of HIV could be virtually eliminated in the US if some of those antiviral drugs were made available to at-risk populations.

No, the biggest issue with preventing HIV transmission is stigma of the disease

Besides, Gilead, much like every other large pharmaceutical company, has patient access programs to ensure that anyone who needs their medications can get them: https://www.gilead.com/purpose/medication-access/us-patient-...

Re:Remdesivir and chloroquine effectively inhibit coronaviru... by heavyset_go on Wednesday February 26, 2020 @04:08PM (#22427343)
> Besides, Gilead, much like every other large pharmaceutical company, has patient access programs to ensure that anyone who needs their medications can get them

Not if they're on Medicaid or Medicare[1], which some providers through those programs only very recently began to cover the medications due to lawsuits against them.

Also, the co-pay coupon card only covers up to $7,200 in co-pays per year[1].

There is also the income gap where someone could make too much money to qualify for their program, despite having no insurance, bad insurance or catastrophic insurance plans. A contractor responsible for their own health insurance might find themselves in that income gap.

And this program is at the discretion of Gilead, who can deny, change or discontinue it at any moment.

[1] https://www.truvada.com/how-to-get-truvada-for-prep/truvada-...

Re:Remdesivir and chloroquine effectively inhibit coronaviru... by pwinnski on Wednesday February 26, 2020 @04:33PM (#22427592)
The existence of "patient access programs" are symptoms of the problem, not cures for the problem.