Lawsuit is not frivolous

Regarding “More lawsuits coming” (Letters to the Editor, Jan. 18): I was disappointed to read the letter from Victor Gomez, one of the paid directors of a group funded by Big Pharma, criticizing the recent California appellate court decision allowing a lawsuit against Gilead Sciences to move forward.

Gomez profoundly mischaracterizes the suit by claiming that it is over “something that hasn’t even been developed yet.” He does not understand the allegations of the suit or the evidence supporting it.

As one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, I suffered permanent harm from taking a Gilead HIV drug. The uncontroverted evidence in the case is that Gilead had a promising, safer drug and intentionally halted its final development. It did so to reap the profits until the patent for the first drug expired before replacing it with a “new” and “novel” next-generation drug. Its decision was calculated and without regard to my safety or the safety of other people on Gilead’s drug.

Pharmaceutical companies can, and should, be profitable. But they should not profit by knowingly and unnecessarily harming the patients, not when a safer and equally effective alternative waiting in the wings. Gilead’s actions were greedy and, in the words of the Court of Appeal, “morally blameworthy.”

The lawsuit is an important tool to move to a trial, where hopefully jurors will make Gilead and others think twice before knowingly withholding better, safer products solely to bolster their profits.

David Troup, San Francisco