Drugs that can cure chronic hepatitis C infection in approximately 95 percent of patients first became available in the U.S. in 2014. But both public and private insurers continue to deny coverage for these costly drugs at high rates nationwide, despite efforts to remove treatment restrictions, according to a new study published in Open Forum… Continue reading Many Insurers Deny Coverage for Highly Effective Hep C Drugs
Category: Hepatitis C
Expanding Hepatitis C Testing to All Adults Is Cost-Effective and Improves Outcomes
According to a February 2018 study published online in Clinical Infectious Diseases, screening all adults for hepatitis C (HCV) is a cost-effective way to improve clinical outcomes of HCV and identify more infected people compared to current recommendations. Using a simulation model, researchers from Boston Medical Center, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Stanford University found… Continue reading Expanding Hepatitis C Testing to All Adults Is Cost-Effective and Improves Outcomes
New Hepatitis C Infections Have Tripled over The Past Five Years
Editor’s Note: Hepatitis C is a potentially deadly viral infection, and the majority of deaths occur in people 55 and older. A simple hepatitis C test can tell whether you have contracted it. Risk factors include: receiving a blood transfusion before 1992; sharing needles or getting a tattoo in unsanitary conditions; and having multiple sexual… Continue reading New Hepatitis C Infections Have Tripled over The Past Five Years
Hepatitis C Treatments Give Patients More Options
Transformative advances in drug treatments approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are giving the 3.2 million Americans with chronic hepatitis C a chance for a longer, healthier life without the virus. That’s good news for baby boomers—who make up three of four adults with the hepatitis C virus—and millions of other Americans,… Continue reading Hepatitis C Treatments Give Patients More Options
Liver Transplants for Hep C: A Surprising Finding
An international team of researchers was surprised to find that in some hepatitis C patients who receive liver transplants, genes that target the hepatitis C virus (HCV) as part of the innate immune system actually enable the patients to tolerate a foreign organ without taking immunosuppressant medication. The study was published in July 2014 in Science Translational Medicine.