If you’ve ever been sick or dealing with issues that keep you in the hospital, then you know the value of good health. It seems as if today, the cost of living healthy has risen almost to a point that’s unaffordable to the common person, and for anyone with health issues, the cost of health care has become unaffordable as well. The main reason health care costs so much is because the pharmaceutical industry has uncontrollably inflated the price of drugs needed to treat people’s medical needs. Of course there are other reasons for high health care bills, but the pharmaceutical industry is one of the leading contributors to why many people suffer through financial hardship and physical pain. One of the worst cases in recent years was the development of a miracle drug that ultimately cures Hepatitis C (HCV).

The drug Sovaldi (Sofosbuvir), developed by Gilead, is a breakthrough drug that proved most successful in the cure of Hepatitis C and other chronic liver conditions. The dosage is simple, with patients needing around 400 mg (one pill) daily. The treatment can last 12-24 weeks, depending on the severity of one’s particular condition; but with a 90 percent cure rate, it has proven to be a revolutionary treatment for Hepatitis C.

The big issue with the drug Sovaldi is that Gilead, the manufacturer of the drug, has priced the miracle cure at $1000 per pill or roughly $82 thousand per treatment, minus the expense of other drugs take in accordance with Sovaldi. The final cost of the drug for an American with HCV is over $100 thousand dollars. To make matters even worse, the drug cost less than $200 to make an entire treatment. That means Gilead is making 500 times their expenses in profit for a drug that can change the lives of millions across the world. The company’s CEO says that he feels that the drug is priced at what it is worth, but for something that is virtually costless for a pharmaceutical company to manufacture, is it fair to make the drug unaffordable?

Hepatitis C is a chronic infection of the liver which can normally lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer. There are over 130 million people infected by the disease worldwide with 3.2 million of those infected living in the United States. HCV is common in both men and women born between 1945 and 1965 but is still prevalent today with over 17,000 Americans diagnosed each year. Over 500 thousand people die from HCV every year with over 12,000 Americans dying yearly according to Centers for Disease Control (CDC). If left untreated, HCV can cause cancer and/or other chronic conditions which can be fatal. The CDC estimates that 20 percent of people infected with HCV will develop cirrhosis and almost five percent will die of cirrhosis or liver cancer.

There are very few insurance companies that cover the drug and it has left doctors and nurses facing a horrible reality: Letting patients know there is a cure to their disease, but it is virtually unaffordable. That’s the cost Gilead has put on of the lives of people living with HCV, and it’s only the beginning of a revolution where the pharm-industry controls the value of life. There are a number of diseases that still have no cures and very little reasonable treatments, but as the pharm-industry creates these revolutionary miracle drugs, there also runs a risk of high costs to get the drugs. In a sense, the industry will tease you with hopes of life, but if your pockets aren’t big enough, your life has little value to them. The sad reality of the cost of living in good health.