Prisoners Sue Massachusetts for Withholding Hepatitis C Drugs

In the latest example of how the high price tags for hepatitis C drugs are limiting use in some of the most infected populations, two inmates in Massachusetts state prisons have filed a lawsuit accusing the state prison system of failing to provide the drugs to most infected prisoners.

More than 1,500 inmates in Massachusetts state prisons have hepatitis C, but only three are being treated for it, the lawsuit states, even though Gilead Sciences GILD +1.24% and AbbVie ABBV -0.29% introduced drugs since late 2013 that have higher cure rates and shorter treatment durations than older hepatitis C regimens.

“Prisoners who ought to receive the new medications are not receiving them, and a vast number of prisoners with Hepatitis C are not being afforded the necessary testing to determine whether they too should receive treatment,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Boston.

Lawyers from Prisoners’ Legal Services, a non-profit advocacy group, filed the lawsuit on behalf of inmates Emilian Paszko and Jeffrey Fowler. The lawsuit seeks class-action status on behalf of other Massachusetts inmates infected with hepatitis C who have been denied treatment.

Read more...

The cost of curing hepatitis C

Eradicating hepatitis C
Gilead has said it would like to see the eradication of hepatitis C within 10 to 15 years and with the development of such a cure, experts say it is biologically feasible, at least in theory.

But in practice, many people don’t even know they are infected and more needs to be done to test for the virus and prevent transmission in the first place.

“This is a really historic point in time – any time you make such dramatic leaps in the effectiveness of treatment, it really raises the visibility of the problem,” said WHO’s Wiktor. “But we really need to scale up testing and get the whole health system trained on how to deliver these drugs, how to evaluate patients and how to use these drugs. That’s what we’re trying to work on, but a lot has to happen and it’s not just about reducing the price of the drugs.”

Read more....

Potential Liver Recipients May Have New Option

Organs harvested after cardiac death appear safe, effective, study says

FRIDAY, June 5, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Livers from donors who suffered cardiac death can be safely and effectively transplanted into patients dying of liver cancer, a new study suggests.

A liver transplant can cure many liver cancer patients, but many die waiting for a liver because most transplant centers use only livers from brain-dead donors. This study tested livers from both brain-dead donors and donors after cardiac death.

Cardiac death does not mean death from heart attack. Because of damaging oxygen loss, someone who dies from a heart attack is not considered a viable donor of organs for transplantation, the researchers said. Instead, cardiac death is controlled in a patient who will donate organs, they explained.

Read more...

Louisville prepares to launch needle-exchange program

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky's largest city is taking the lead as its first to offer a needle-exchange program, but other communities are reviewing such swaps as a way to combat heroin addiction, prevent the spread of diseases and steer drug users toward treatment.

Needle exchanges in Louisville will begin Wednesday in a trailer parked outside the city's Public Health and Wellness headquarters, health officials said Tuesday. The goal is to prevent the spread of HIV and hepatitis C and boost treatment among drug users.

"This is about the public safety of our entire community," said Louisville Metro Council member David Yates.

Read more...

Goodbye to the Boys on the Bus: How the VA Cured My Hepatitis C

They were a rough-looking crew, the boys on the bus. To be fair, practically no one looks great at 5:45 in the morning, the time you have to show up at the Veteran's Administration Outpatient Clinic in Redding to catch the van to Mather Medical Center in Sacramento. I say “boys” but occasionally a woman or two joined us, all of us veterans who for a variety of reasons choose the VA for our healthcare needs, even if it means occasionally riding the short bus 200 miles to see a specialist.

Most of us kept to ourselves, perhaps because the hour was early and talk would have inevitably turned to the illness that had earned each of us our seat. Cancer, lung disease and diabetes don't make for great breakfast conversation, especially if you happen to be suffering from one of those maladies and you're on the way to the doctor to find out how long you've got to live. Hepatitis C was my illness and I've never been keen to share that information with anyone. Our silence was stoic, not uncomfortable.

Read more....

Curing Hard-to-Treat Hepatitis C

In a new video, NIH researchers and their colleagues from health centers in the District of Columbia discuss efforts to improve treatments for hepatitis C, a potentially life-threatening viral disease that slowly damages the liver. NIH-sponsored clinical studies in the nation’s capital focus on identifying effective, safe, and convenient therapies for hard-to-treat hepatitis C patients, such as those who also have HIV.

 

US hepatitis C patients travel to India for cheaper Sovaldi versions

Patients in the US and Europe have struggled to get access to the drug after insurers and governments limited its use to the sickest patients to control costs 

New York/Mumbai: This is how far one Express Scripts Holding Co. executive was willing to go to secure inexpensive versions of Gilead Sciences Inc.’s hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, unavailable to US consumers under federal drug import and patent laws.

 

His plan: Dock a cruise ship flying an Indian flag off the coast of Miami. Stock the ship with versions of Sovaldi sold in India for $83,000 less than the US retail price for 12 weeks of treatment. Ferry US patients to the boat and send them home with the potentially life-saving medicines at a huge discount.

 

The only wrinkle in his plan wasn’t the absurdity of a pharmacy benefit manager manning and operating a cruise ship full of drugs from India. The problem, after doing some quick research into the idea, was that it would probably violate US drug re-importation laws that limit the value of drugs brought into the country to $1,500—the price of one and a half Sovaldi tablets in the US, said Steve Miller, chief medical officer at Express Scripts, who came up with the idea.

 

Read more...