Good MEDICINE may be bad ECONOMICS

Good MEDICINE may be bad ECONOMICS (From today's Wall Street Journal and MARKETWATCH in the articles cited below) "Hepatitis C drugs usually cure patients in a single course of treatment. That is great news for the patients; but is a different business proposition than for drugs for chronic diseases." Gilead has accumulated more than $45 billion in cumulative revenue since 2013 but patients are becoming fewer. ADVICE TO DOCTORS AND DRUG COMPANIES When you have expenses, I say discreetly, as well as too many bills to pay beware of curing your patients completely-- it's better if they'll return another day. So give lots of encouraging advice as well as comfy messages and perks but you'd better think at least twice before doing something that REALLY works. Of course, psychiatrists have known this for years, so they'll alleviate --but rarely dispel -- fears. However, if you can't avoid using a "breakthrough" drug that works too well, you should at least be quite sure to make it expensive as Hell. HzL 2/9/17 Gilead's Boom Fades and Bust Will Linger - WSJ https://www.wsj.com/.../gileads-boom-fades-and-bust-will-linger-14865712... 1 day ago - Gilead Sciences' great success with hepatitis drug says a lot about drug pricing and risk for the future. [$$] Gilead's Boom Fades and Bust Will Linger - Yahoo Finance https://finance.yahoo.com/.../ss_%5B$$%5D-gilead%26%2339%3Bs-bo... 1 day ago - Gilead's Boom Fades and Bust Will Linger. The Wall Street ... Gilead Sciences just kitchen-sinked 2017 guidance, worse than anyone expected. 14 BULLETIN Nvidia shares fall after hours despite record holiday quarterClose Bulletin Share on TwitterShare on Facebook NEW YORK MARKETS AFTER HOURS Market Snapshot Winners and Losers Home Industries Pharmaceuticals The Ratings GameGET EMAIL ALERTS Gilead cured hepatitis C. That’s become its biggest problem By Emma Court Published: Feb 8, 2017 11:33 a.m. ET 14 Gilead’s hepatitis C cure was a breakthrough. But it’s also the source of the company’s troubleshttp://ei.marketwatch.com//Multimedia/2016/06/07/Photos/ZH/MW-EO808_gilead_20160607163917_ZH.jpg?uuid=e78b077c-2cef-11e6-9a50-0015c588dfa6 Bloomberg News/Landov Gilead’s 2017 sales guidance was far below even reduced Wall Street expectations. Gilead Sciences Inc. achieved a scientific breakthrough when it developed a cure for hepatitis C, the viral infection that can have severe and deadly complications. The company’s biggest problem these days appears to be that it works. Gilead GILD, -1.86% shares sunk 9.7% in heavy volume Wednesday morning after the company issued 2017 sales guidance far below even reduced Wall Street expectations. –– ADVERTISEMENT –– “We believe investors expected guidance to be light... just not necessarily this light,” said J.P. Morgan analyst Cory Kasimov