By SEEMA YASMIN SEEMA YASMIN
The Dallas Morning News
Special Contributor
Published: 21 December 2013
Patrizia Cazzaniga of East Dallas enrolled in a hepatitis C drug trial in May. “Everybody says I look much better than I did,” she said. “I feel free and very happy.”
Patrizia Cazzaniga suffered stomachaches, tiredness and nausea for months before going to her doctor. The 57-year-old East Dallas resident was shocked to find out that she had hepatitis C, a virus she had probably been infected with 30 years earlier through a blood transfusion she received during childbirth.
But a new pill, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this month, actually cures hepatitis C. Sofosbuvir cured 89 percent of hepatitis C patients in only 12 weeks in clinical trials. Patients suffered fewer side effects than with older treatments and didn’t have to endure weekly injections. But at $84,000 for a 12-week course, or $1,000 a pill, the cure doesn’t come cheap.
“It’s a game changer,” said Dr. William L. Lee, a liver disease specialist at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Lee has treated hundreds of patients using the older medications, interferon and ribavirin, and has had varied success.
Cost is a big barrier,” Lee said. The new treatments cost about four times more than the current drugs. Patient assistance programs offered by the pharmaceutical companies provide help to some who need assistance with the cost of medications.
But Lee worries that many patients will rely on Medicaid and that the state’s Medicaid program won’t fund the treatment.
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Photo Credit - Nathan Hunsinger/Staff Photographer
Links
Sovaldi Website
PDF - FAQ about Sovaldi
Patient Information
Support And Patient Assistance
PDF - Full Prescribing Information
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