Foreign patients turn to India, ‘pharmacy of the developing world’, in search of cut-price cures

When doctors told Australian Greg Jefferys he had Hepatitis C and the disease was destroying his liver, the devastating diagnosis was compounded by the cost of a cure.

Unable to afford Sovaldi, hailed as a miracle drug, the 61-year-old flew to India, one of a growing army of patients seeking out low-cost, life-saving medicines on the subcontinent.

Their illnesses vary – Hepatitis C, cancer and HIV are among the most common – but they are almost always desperate, seeing in India their only hope to save their life or that of a loved one.

They contact underground “buyers clubs”, make the trip to India to buy from a legitimate distributor or seek out shady online pharmacies promising mail-order cures.

“The doctors told me ‘you’ve got Hepatitis C, you’ve probably got liver cancer’,” recalled Jefferys, a PhD student.

“The chatter was around the new generic versions of Sovaldi being released in India. I hopped on a plane to Chennai and in about two days I had an appointment with a specialist,” he said.