Blue Cross sued by hepatitis C patient for withholding Harvoni treatment

US law firm Shernoff Bidart Echeverria Bentley yesterday filed a law suit in the Los Angeles Superior Court accusing health insurer Blue Cross of withholding a cure for hepatitis C based only upon profits, in violation of California law.

The plaintiff, Shima Andre, suffers from hepatitis C, but claims a new treatment is radically changing the lives of those living with the disease. The treatment, US biotech giant Gilead Sciences’ combination drug Harvoni (sofosbuvir and ledipasvir), was just approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2014 and was even designated as a "Breakthrough Therapy" for its revolutionary ability to treat and cure hepatitis C. In clinical trials, Harvoni cured hepatitis C in 95%-99% of patients within only 12weeks, the suit pointed out.

However, according to the law suit, Blue Cross has arbitrarily chosen to give the treatment only to those patients suffering from the worst stages of liver damage. Despite the opinions of other patients' treating doctors, they are told by Blue Cross that they must wait for the cure, suffer serious liver damage, and only then will they be eligible for Harvoni. No known medical study supports this decision - and no part of Mrs Andre’s insurance policy grants Blue Cross this arbitrary authority.