Wyden Statement on Massachusetts AG Letter to Gilead

WASHINGTON - Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today released to following statement regarding a letter sent to Gilead Sciences Inc. by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey:

“I commend the Massachusetts Attorney General for challenging Gilead’s decision to put profits before the well-being of people with hepatitis C across the nation. The investigation that Senator Grassley and I released last month showed that Gilead knew its pricing strategy would lead to many hepatitis C patients getting left behind. Today, too many people are not receiving this breakthrough therapy for the sake of maximizing revenue.

“I remain extremely concerned by the financial impact Gilead’s pricing decisions continue having on taxpayers, and the limited access for people in Medicare, Medicaid and other health systems who need these drugs – the very populations the Attorney General identifies in her letter to Gilead.”

Wyden and Grassley released their bipartisan report on December 1, 2015. Section 5 of the report documents the numerous price warnings that Gilead received from patients, doctors and payers. In addition, it showed Gilead’s own internal analysis in September 2014, which anticipated budget constraints would “drive strict criteria for treatment” of Medicaid enrollees, and that restrictive treatment criteria would “likely remain.”

Appendix E of the report includes letters from 10 states to the senators or their investigative staff expressing concern about the high price of Gilead’s hepatitis C drugs. The letters are from Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington.

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