Canada: Hepatitis C drug only available to wealthy in Ont.

LONDON -- It's the holy grail of drug treatment for people with liver-ravaging hepatitis C, but in Ontario, it's out of reach for all but the wealthy.

Two new drugs have revolutionized care for those with hepatitis C. Sovaldi was so ground-breaking its first-year sales outpaced every other previous drug, including Viagra. Harvoni became only the seventh drug ever to be designated by American regulators as a breakthrough therapy.

But though sales of Sovaldi and Harvoni shot through the roof elsewhere, Ontarians with the disease and without private insurance are playing a waiting game some won't survive.

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