New hepatitis C drug exciting -- but expensive
CTV News.ca Staff
Date: Friday Aug. 5, 2011 2:43 PM ET
Watch ; CTV News Video
But a new generation of hepatitis drugs is on the horizon. Earlier this week, a new medication called Victrelis (boceprevir) was approved in Canada, designed to be taken in combination with the current hep C therapies.
But the hope the drug brings comes with a hefty price: about $1,050 a week on top of the $400 a week for the standard treatments.
Some patients can be cured in an little as 28 weeks of therapy, but other patients might need to stay on the drug much longer. Robinson, who is too sick to work, doesn't have a drug plan. "I don't know how I will pay for it. I will cross that bridge when I get to it," he says. So far, the provinces haven't said whether they will be covering the medication under provincial health plans. Victrelis is yet another drug to add to the list of ever more costly medications that provinces are being asked to cover.
Continue Reading..
No comments:
Post a Comment