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Former Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson has just gotten an extended lease on life after learning from her doctors three months ago that she's finally cured of Hepatitis C after taking the drug called Sovaldi for 12 weeks.

For the 48-year-old actress and model, struggling with the virus felt like being handed over a death sentence which could have easily broken her will to fight back and go on living.

"I think anyone struggling with a disease that they say you can live with is still - it still plays into a lot of your decisions in your life. Twenty years ago they told me I would die in 10 years. And 10 years into that, they told me I would be able to live with it and probably die of something else, but it all was very scary stuff," said Anderson as quoted saying by People Magazine.

Anderson had been battling with Hepatitis C for more than 15 years. After the successful completion of her medication, she felt like getting those years back.

According to ABC News, around 3.5 million Americans are suffering from the chronic infection of the liver with an estimated 15, 000 people dying from disease every year in a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

For Anderson, it's struggle that ended well for her as she had access to an effective treatment with a price tag of almost $100,000 paid for by her healthcare insurance. But for majority of affected Americans who cannot afford such expensive medication, the consequences can be very dire.

In another development, Gilead Sciences Inc., the maker of the drug Sovaldi, is currently under investigation over unfair trade practices because of the ridiculously high cost of its Hepatitis C medication which makes curative treatments virtually inaccessible to many patients.

"At a minimum, Gilead should consider innovative approaches to pricing and payment that would expand access to Sovaldi and Harvoni in the United States, as it has done in other countries," remarked Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey as mentioned in a report by the Wall Street Journal.