There are now nearly 9,000 patients on
ADAP waiting lists and hundreds more who have been denied enrollment into the program.
The advocates' goal is to raise public awareness and educate community members--including J&J employees--regarding the steep prices that J&J's Tibotec Pharmaceuticals charges government programs like
ADAP for its popular HIV/AIDS drug, Prezista (darunavir)--currently over $7,500 per patient, per year for
ADAP.
According to
ADAP Watch, a list published by the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD), as of September 29th, 8,512 low-income AIDS patients in nine states have been placed on waiting lists to access lifesaving HIV/AIDS medications through the nation's network of
ADAPs.
As of October 27th, there are 6,689 people on waiting lists in twelve states, according to
ADAP Watch, published regularly by the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD).
The
ADAP Working Group is an industry-activist coalition to seek funding for this program, which is administered separately by each state.
Project Inform's Ryan Clary, an
ADAP advocate and community organizer, echoed Graham's remarks: "It's so important for AIDS service organizations to lobby, and to brin g their clients to lobby, not just the president of the board.
The agreement with Gilead comes at a time when a combination of the nation's current economic situation, state budget challenges, and increased HIV testing and earlier treatment efforts have produced an unprecedented increase in the number of
ADAP enrollees, resulting in severe cost-containment measures in many
ADAPs.
Sign up for the
ADAP waiting list, don't just walk away.
Participants Will "Occupy Gilead" by Staging a Mock Funeral Outside Gilead Headquarters; They Will Wear Skeleton Masks, Dress in All-Black, & Carry a Coffin in Memory of Those Who Have Died While on
ADAP Waitlists
She is also researching the
ADAP crisis -- and how people can help with both programs -- for a future article for this newsletter.
The catalyst for the legal action arose in late September 2011, when Ohio health officials took final steps to institute what are likely some of the most severe medical and financial-eligibility changes to a government medical assistance program nationwide -- provisions that would have rationed health care in Ohio, and would have given the Director of the Ohio Health Department unilateral, arbitrary control over who does and who does not get
ADAP.
The Department seeks to secure PBM services to manage insurance assistance such as prescription co-payments and/or deductibles for
ADAP insured clients through a statewide network of pharmacies with retail and mail-order options.
