Gilead Sciences, Inc. via APIn this June 28, 2016 photo provided by Gilead Sciences, Inc., the drug Epclusa is shown. It was the first approved pill to treat all major forms of hepatitis C.Colorado’s Medicaid department was slapped with a federal class-action lawsuit Monday led by a Denver man denied treatment for the life-threatening hepatitis C virus because he has government insurance.
Robert Lee Cunningham, represented by ACLU Colorado, is among thousands of Coloradans denied access to a breakthrough drug with a 90-percent cure rate because under Medicaid policy, he “has not yet suffered measurable and potentially irreversible liver damage,” the lawsuit says.
Colorado covers the 12-week, $40,000 prescription only for people whose livers have reached stage two in scarring, on a scale of zero to four. Private insurance companies, however, cover the drug treatment for patients infected with the blood-borne virus, regardless of how far it’s advanced.
The Colorado …
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ACLU sues Colorado Medicaid over denial of treatment for thousands of hep C patients – The Denver Post