I checked my investments today. Out of several mutual funds and one metals stock, I lost $2,560 during the first week of 2015. That’s almost the average monthly take-home pay for Canadians ($2700). I’m lucky to have saved enough to weather the downdraft in oil prices that has blown down stock market profits. And I’m amazingly lucky to have gone through hepatitis C treatment without having spent my entire retirement savings on pills.

Naturally, I checked the price of Gilead Sciences Inc. stock–not that I own any.  Gilead’s shares (GILD on NASDAQ) are up 5.54% over the last five days. Over the past year, the stock increased 36.69% and it outperformed the S&P 500 index. After taking a hit in my meager portfolio, I am considering buying shares in the Sovaldi maker.

I believe that Gilead’s Sovaldi (and Janssen’s Galexos) saved my life. But would it be ethical for me to buy shares from a company that prices its medicines far out of the range of hundreds of thousands of hep C sufferers whose pay is maybe just average? If anyone reading this blog has an opinion on this, please let me know.