"As individual patients, we often don’t think about these costs. In my Instagram poll, nearly everyone taking Descovy reported receiving the drug effectively for free, largely due to Gilead’s copay coupons. However, as with anything in life, nothing really ever is free. More patients taking Descovy rather than generic Truvada means higher overall spending by insurance companies. This eventually comes back to haunt us in the form of higher premiums, and is why we shouldn’t simply adopt a costlier drug like Descovy without good reason to do so."

Frank F. Zhou is a medical student.

He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, "Is Descovy really the better option?"

Reflect and earn 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CME for this episode.