. >> reporter: in 2013, vietnam veteran zion yisrael was told he had five years to live. he had stage four liver disease caused by hepatitis c. it has infected as many as 230,000 veterans. most contracted it in vietnam where it was sprd by battlefield blood transfusionss and vaccinations. >> the longer it goes, the harder it is to treat. >> reporter: after decades of sufferin earlier this year yisrael was overjoyed toearn there was s a aure. >> i felt like my prayers were answered. >> i am ready to be cured. >> reporter: the drug, sofosbuvir, is sold as sovaldi' harvoni and claims to cure up to 99% of hepatitis c patients, but there's a catch. the retail price far 12-week treatment is $84,000. the department of veterans affairs gets a 50% discount, but even with that, the v.a. told give it to everyone who needs it, including him. >> c ce back next year, and all the time i'm thinking about that, my condition is getting worse. dr. raymond schinazi founded the company and has worked for the department of veterans affairs since 1983. he says he's only a seven-eighths governme

. >> reporter: in 2013, vietnam veteran zion yisrael was told he had five years to live.he had stage four liver disease caused by hepatitis c. which has infected as many as 230,000 veterans. most contracted it in vietnam where it was spread by battlefield blood transfusions and vaccinations. >> the longer it goes, the harder it is to treat. >> reporter: after decades of suffering, earlier this year yisrael was overjoyed to learn there was a cure. >> i felt like my prayers were answered. >> i am ready to be cured. >> reporter: the drug, sofosbuvir, is sold as sovaldi and harvoni and claims to cure up to 99% of hepatitis c patients, but there's a catch. the retail price for a 12-week treatment is $84,000. the department of veterans affairs gets a 50% discount, but even with that, the va told yisrael they can't afford to give it to everyone who needs it, including him. >> come back next year, and all the time i'm thinking about that, my condition is getting worse. >> reporter: dr. raymond schinazi founded the company and led the scientific team that discovered the drug. he h

(sot) (zion yisrael)they just didn't have the money for it. come back next year. and all the time i'm thinking about that, well, my condition is getting worse. founded the company, pharmasset, and led the scientific team that discovered sofosbuvir. he also veterans affairsand has since 1983. (sot) (dr. raymond describes himself as a 7/8th's employee, which means he works most -- but not all of the time -- for the government. (sot) so you're only spening one-eighth of your time on your private companies? that's correct.so therefore you can do whatever you want with that well, even less than that. i'm very efficient.narr 6: doctor schinazi made more than 400 million dollars when he sold his company for eleven billion dollars to pharmaceutical giant gilead in 2012. (sot) (dr. raymond schinazi) (00 18 02)can you see how that looks to an average veteran?i'm sorry you're taking it personally. narr 7: if you're surprised that a government scientist can make that kind of moneygiven federal laws surrounding conflicts of //00 34 17 // 00 18 02)has ybody ever questioned the

. >> reporter: in 2013, vietnam veteran zion yisrael was told he had five years to live. he had stage four liver disease caused by hepatitis c. which has infected as many as 230,000 veterans. where it was spread by battlefield blood transfusions and vaccinations. >> the longer it goes, the harder it is to treat. >> reporter: after decades of suffering, earlier this year yisrael was overjoyed to learn there was a cure. >> i felt like my prayers were answered. >> i am ready to be cured. >> reporter: the drug, sofosbuvir, is sold as sovaldi and harvoni and claims to cure up to 99% of hepatitis c patients, but there's a catch. the retail price for a 12-week treatment is $84,000. the department of veterans affairs gets a 50% discount, but even with that, the va told yisrael they can't afford to give it to everyone who needs it, including him. >> come back next year, and all the time i'm thinking about that, my condition is getting worse. >> reporter: dr. raymond led the scientific team that discovered the drug. he has worked for the department of veterans affairs since 1983. h

. >> reporter: in 2013, vietnam veteran zion yisrael was told he had five years to live. he had stage four liver disease caused by hepatitis c. which has infected as many as 230,000 veterans. most contracted itn vietnam battlefield blood transfusions and vaccinations. >> the longer it goes, the harder it is to treat. >> reporter: after decades of suffering, earlier thiyear yisrael was overjoyed to learn there was a cucu. >> i felt like my prayers were answered. >> i am ready to be cured. >> reporter: the drug, sofosbuvir, is sold as sovaldi and harvoni and claims to cure up to 99% of hepatitis c patients, but there's a catch. the retail price for a 12-week treatment is $84,000. the department of veterans affairs gets a 50% discount, but even with that, the va told yisrael they can't afford to give it to everyone who needs it, ininuding him. >> come back next year, and all the time i'm thinking about that, my condition is getting worse. >> reporter: dr. raymond led the scientific team that discovered the drug. he has worked for the department of veterans affairs since 1983

. >> reporter: zion yisrael wonders if the price will come down in time to save him. in the two years his doctor says he has left. >> it's not right that the vets, we're still alive and we come here, and because of $84,000, you know, we can't get cured, a medication produced by the country that we're protecting? >> reporter: dr. schinazi sayings the drug he helped create has helped save hundreds of thousands of lives around the world, but, scott, the v.a. con sides that funding for u.s. veterans is limited. so far they've treated about 35,000 vets, just 15% of the veterans infected with hepatitis c. >> pelley: chip reid with a revealing story in our washington newsroom. chip, thanks. patients who suffer from a rare infection called toxoplasmosis scripps offered to sell the treatment for $1 a pill. the drug is similar to daraprims, sold by a pharmaceutical company for $750 a pill. after an uproar, turing's c.e.o. martin jelly promised to lower the price and then he appeared to backtrack. don dahler has more on this. >> when shkreli increased its price, they claimed the

. >> reporter: zion yisrael wonders if the price will come down in time to save him, in the two years his doctor says he has left. >> it's not right that the vets, we're still alive and we come here, and because of $84,000, you know, we can't get cured, a medication produced by the country that we're protecting? >> reporter: dr. schinazi says the drug he helped create has helped save hundreds of thousands of lives around the world, but, scott, the v.a. concedes that funding for u.s. veterans is limited. so far they've treated about 35,000 vets, just 15% of the veterans infected with hepatitis c. >> chip reid with a revealing story in our washington newsroom. chip, thanks. >>> patients who suffer from a rare infection called toxoplasmosis got some help today when express scripts offered to sell the treatment for $1 a pill. the drug is similar to daraprim, sold by turing pharmaceutical for $750 a pill. after an uproar, turing's c.e.o. martin shkreli promised to lower the price and then he appeared to backtrack. don dahler has more on this. >> reporter: when shkreli increased its price,