Merck breaks the bank while thousands of people are unable to access lifesaving AIDS treatment

Action Alert: Send the e-letter below to Merck CEO Kenneth C. Frazier

• State AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) cannot keep pace with the skyrocketing costs of AIDS drugs. As a result, thousands of people are on ADAP waiting lists unable to access lifesaving treatment.

• Merck’s Patient Assistance Program (PAP) for low-income patients is failing to provide treatment to many of the patients it claims to be helping

The Greed

• Billions in revenues for AIDS drug in 2010

• $99.7 billion market capitalization

• Millions of dollars in tax breaks for so-called “charitable” Patient Assistance Programs (PAP)

• Charging publicly-funded ADAPs more than $8,000 per patient per year for Isentress, a drug which only costs a few hundred dollars to make

http://takeaction.aidshealth.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=189