Two New Drugs To Treat Hepatitis C And My Doctor

Hello Folks,
Published today online is an article from the Detroit Free Press which mentions my hepatologist Dr. Stuart Gordon. The article written by PATRICIA ANSTETT  touches on both new FDA approved drugs to treat hepatitis c, victrelis and incivek. This blog has mentioned the importance of finding a physician who specialize in treating HCV patients and is familiar with these new FDA approved drugs. Adherence is essential and the treatment regimen is complex. If you're from this area (Detroit/Novi) and looking for a physician I highly recommend Dr. Gordon. This physician is remarkable, published, attentive, kind and compassionate. It has been ten years since I achieved  SVR, but  I still recall sitting in his office feeling pretty much shocked when we were discussing how long treatment would be and what it would consist of. Its funny what we really fear when it comes to this disease, it came in steps for me. The first hurdle would be the ever looming liver biopsy. When he suggested it, I agreed, but only if it wasn't performed by a resident, and I wanted drugs, I didn't want to feel a thing.

I was so scared, newly diagnosed, I thought I was going to die from HCV before my next birthday, my children just lost their father a year earlier to this disease. However, because we were divorced I wasn't told it was from HCV. When I found out (sadly after reading his death certificate, I was tested, positive for HCV.) my search began for a doctor, this all transpired two weeks prior to making this appointment with Dr. Gorden. I remember looking up HCV in a medical book in the library, it contained one sentence which only alluded to the fact HCV was the most serious of all the hepatitis viruses. Nothing more, nothing less. At the time I had no idea I was about to embark on the ride of my life, but safely under the care of Dr. Gorden.   

Three weeks later the day came for my liver biopsy and I wondered if he would remember " no resident", in walked Dr.Gordon. I was one fortunate patient. He administered my demerol, and I started to relax. Before the procedure I asked him if he was nervous, he laughed and said; "Not as nervous as you are.", I love this guy folks. This was a busy man, in fact at the time he was running a few clinical trials.  He published numerous papers on interferon back then, you can read a handful of his papers here , here, and here. In fact that's how I found him, I read his work online.

At the time I had a dear friend who needed a second opinion, I suggested Dr. Gorden and soon she made an appointment. The prognosis wasn't good, Dr. Gorden gently advised her to start the process of  putting together a transplant team, she needed a new liver. At the time she had no idea how sick she was, none of us knew. A family member told me later Dr. Gordon was concerned of the probability she would die from acute liver failure before an organ was available. She was listed and because of a rare blood type a liver did not come in time. Even with Dr. Gorden's intervention we lost her quickly . If any of you are familiar with ESLD its can be a long painful death, in my friends case it was acute. With these new drugs now FDA approved, this disease can now be treated successfully in individuals who failed prior therapy. Yes, sadly enough it comes too late for many of our friends, but hope is now alive for the many thousands waiting to treat again. These brave people have waited a decade for these new drugs. Now hope is within their reach.

Dr. Stuart Gordon
1-800-HENRYFORD
(1-800-436-7936)

2 new drug treatments have cured thousands of liver disease

Two newly approved hepatitis C drugs may bring a cure to thousands of Americans not helped by previous treatments. But the drugs are costly and can cause unwanted side effects.
The drugs --Victrelis and Incivek-- have generated excitement among many of the 170,000 Americans who are diagnosed each year with the liver disease because the treatments might help those who haven't responded to other drugs.

"There's going to be a great demand," said Dr. Stuart Gordon, chief of hepatology at Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital. "A lot of prior non-responders will give it a try again."
Some studies show the drugs can cure as many as four out of every five patients who take them along with two conventional medicines.

Gordon said research suggests people more recently diagnosed with hepatitis C may benefit most from the drugs.
An estimated 4 million Americans have hepatitis C, though many are unaware of it because the virus is slow-growing and can linger for years without symptoms.

The drugs recently were approved for genotype 1 hepatitis C, the most common strain of six types.
Merck, manufacturer of Victrelis, said the drug will cost $26,000 to $48,400 for a course of treatment, depending on how long a patient takes it.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals, manufacturer of Incivek, said its drug will cost $49,200 for a course of treatment. The manufacturers have programs to help many uninsured or low- to middle-income patients get the drugs for free or at reduced costs.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, which, as the state's largest health insurer, often sets reimbursement trends in Michigan, is reviewing whether it will cover either drug, said spokeswoman Helen Stojic.
Still unclear, Gordon said, is whether patients who aren't helped by the new drugs will develop resistance to similar medicines............ Continue Reading.........