Truvada, PrEP, and the Facebook Ad Nightmare

Paul Staley of PrEp4All has a new war on his hands. When it comes to fighting for healthcare and LGBTQ rights, Paul is a veteran to the cause. Compared to the prices of a similar, life-saving drug in the 80s, $10,000 a year for AZT, which would be a bargain price now, the pricing of Truvada for PrEP (pre exposure prophylaxis) and misguided information about it is possibly killing people. Anything that stands in the way of dispensing this medication is actually ending lives, even though it is proven that PrEP helps save them.

It took over three months and over 70 LGBTQ organizations coming together advocating for the removal of a misleading Facebook ad campaign regarding Truvada before the ads finally got pulled. Truvada for PrEP is a preventative treatment plan for those who are HIV negative but at high risk for the disease. The ad was pulled Monday, December 30 after running nearly ten months on the social media platform. The open letter to Facebook and all the organizations involved can be seen here. 

Kidney failure and liver failure are in fact listed on parent company Gilead’s site regarding side effects. These side effects apply to people with HIV who have other risk factors, not for HIV-negative folks who use it. PrEP is 99 percent effective when used every day. 

Despite getting Facebook to take down a few ads, the mess only begins with Truvada and its newer incarnation, Descovy, as the Department of Health and Human Services are suing Gilead for patent rights. According to the patent system in America, this could greatly reduce the price. PrEP4All is an organization that is fighting to break the patent and release this drug to over 900,000 people who need it. They ask that Gilead quit profiting from the sale of Truvada, which they hope to prove is not owned by Gilead, thus making the drug affordable and available to all.

Even now, despite all the drama, Facebook has only pulled some of the series of ads that were being fought against since September 2019 despite organizations, doctors, and government officials collectively fighting for complete removal. The scare-tactic ads stated Truvada causes severe bone and kidney damage, and they ran in conjunction with injury attorneys, encouraging a product liability lawsuit against Truvada makers Gilead Sciences. As PrEP is a life-saving tool in the fight against prevention of this epidemic, widespread information about it suffers enough, as the cost of Truvada is astronomical. This preventative care treatment medication needs all the help in can get to save lives and fight the stigma of HIV, despite Gilead’s monopoly on the pattent. 

Truvada, as of right now, costs about $1,780 a month, or $21,360 per year. Peter Staley brought the PrEP4All Collaboration to life in 2018 because of the price gouging he claims Gilead Sciences are implementing. Staley is leading the battle here with his new coalition, which includes working with ACT UP, the warriors from 1987 that fought against the AZT medication price gouging. .

In a statement to NBC News, Staley maintains, “It’s gratifying to see one of Facebook’s fact-checkers backing up the overwhelming consensus of AIDS, LGBTQ, and HIVmedical groups that these ads are misleading,” Still, he asserts his fight, saying, “But the question remains—why is Facebook taking money from these ambulance-chasing law firms for ads that are helping the spread of HIV?”

Insurance companies were denying coverage to people needing Truvada in 2018, and as of June 2019, private insurance holders can no longer refuse clients in need of PrEP. A bill for easier access to PrEP medications and forcing insurance company inclusion was introduced by Senator Kamal Harris late in 2019 and signed in California by Governor Gavin Newsom in October of 2019. It will allow pharmacists to dispense PrEP, thus removing the 60-day wait that can occur with some providers.

For help on receiving assistance for acquiring Truvada contact Planned Parenthood or the Colorado Department of Public Health and Education.