A group of committed AIDS activists and advocates are expected to participate in a protest and "die-in" hosted by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Friday, September 30th at 12:30 pm near the New Brunswick headquarters of Johnson & Johnson to protest the company's pricing of its HIV/AIDS medications. The protestors will be carrying banners and handmade signs with the message: "J&J, do the right thing!" while wearing skeleton masks. Dressed in funeral-black they will carry a 4 ft. X 2 ½ ft. coffin in memory of those who have died of AIDS while on AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) waitlists.
The protest and "die-in" will be held near J&J's New Brunswick headquarters at the corner of George and Albany Streets in light of the severe crisis facing the nation's ADAPs, a network of federal and state funded programs that provide life-saving HIV treatments to low income, uninsured, and underinsured individuals living with HIV/AIDS nationwide. The advocates' goal is to raise public awareness and educate community members—including J&J employees—regarding the steep prices that J&J's Tibotec Pharmaceuticals charges government programs like ADAP for its popular HIV/AIDS drug, Prezista (darunavir)—currently over $7,500 per patient, per year for ADAP.
"Johnson & Johnson is one of the most well known, well respected brands in all America. Its company credo states, 'we believe our first responsibility is to the doctors, nurses and patients, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services. We must constantly strive to reduce our costs in order to maintain reasonable prices.' Today, thanks to the high price of AIDS drugs like J&J's Prezista, assistance programs like ADAP can no longer afford to help those who need access to lifesaving AIDS medicines," said Michael Weinstein, AIDS Healthcare Foundation President. "ADAP is the payer of last resort for thousands of people with AIDS who cannot otherwise afford their medicines. Given that Johnson & Johnson sells this drug 'at cost' for a few hundred dollars per year in developing countries, it can lower prices significantly and still make a huge profit, yet it has not. To help end this crisis, Johnson & Johnson must honor its credo and fulfill its pledge to patients by immediately lowering prices for ADAP—thousands of lives are at risk."
"We felt it important to bring the message about Johnson & Johnson's high price for Prezista directly to company employees in Johnson & Johnson's hometown," said Jessica Reinhart, Grassroots Community Manager for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "Many J&J employees will pass our 'Do the Right Thing!' signs and placards as they arrive for work. Employees and the public deserve know about the company's pricing and policies on its AIDS medications."
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