Welcome to this months edition of Hepatitis Newsletters, published by advocacy groups devoted to increasing awareness and information about viral hepatitis.
Sit back and enjoy a review of July and August news with articles covering everything from Milk Thistle, conditions outside the liver, to new drugs to treat hepatitis C.
We begin with this months issue of "Annals of Hepatogly" with an article addressing the cost of new HCV therapies.
The good, the bad and the ugly of the new treatments for hepatitis C virus
September - October, 2014
Vol. 13 Issue 5
The good, the bad and the ugly of the new treatments for hepatitis C virus
The cost of new hepatitis C treatments
Karen V. Silva-Vidal, Nahum Méndez-Sánchez. Liver Research Unit ...
Reducing the cost of new hepatitis C drugs
An index of current articles expressing concerns about the pricing of Gilead's Sovaldi.
In case you missed it, this week a new section was added to AASLD/IDSA Hepatitis C guidelines; When and in Whom to Initiate HCV Therapy.
The American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), in collaboration with the International Antiviral Society-USA (IAS-USA), today released the latest section of their website, www.hcvguidance.org, which assists clinicians treating patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV). The new section is titled, "When and in Whom to Initiate HCV Therapy."
With the addition of the new section, www.hcvguidance.org now offers clinicians information on how to prioritize treatment for those patients who will derive the most benefit or will have the greatest impact on limiting further HCV transmission. Highest priority should be given to patients with advanced fibrosis with compensated cirrhosis and liver transplant recipients and high priority given to patients at high risk for liver-related complications and severe extra-hepatic HCV complications. The guidance provides further detailed information on additional conditions that warrant prioritization of treatment.
Continue reading...
Article published in MedPageToday
Guidelines: Treat Sickest HCV Patients First
Published: Aug 11, 2014
Patients with less advanced fibrosis but other life-threatening complications, such as cryoglobulinemia, should also be at the head of the list for new direct-acting treatment regimens, Jensen told MedPage Today during a teleconference on the new guidelines.
The societies launched their guidelines in January to help physicians cope with an expected demand for treatment as new regimens reach the clinic.
Unusually, the guidelines are online and under constant revision, making them a "living document" that can cope with a rapidly changing field, according to Michael Saag, MD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the guidelines co-chair for IAS-USA.
The latest addition, reporters were told, is a section on when -- and in which patients -- to initiate therapy.
An estimated 3 million to 4 million Americans have chronic HCV and about half are not aware of it. Many will develop advanced liver disease or liver cancer.
The advent of the novel direct-acting agents -- the first were approved in 2011 -- offers the possibility of eradicating the disease in a "very high percentage" of patients, Jensen said.
The guidelines argue that all patients with chronic HCV could benefit from treatment -- but some need it more urgently than others, he added. Not all patients "can receive treatment immediately upon the approval of new agents," he said. "From a clinical perspective, we are most concerned with those with severe liver disease," he said. The guidelines do not directly address the issue of the cost of the some of the new agents, which has raised concern about the impact on the healthcare system if many thousands of patients seek therapy.
"We hope that the cost issues will be sorted out in another venue," Jensen said, "but it's really patient-directed care that we're concerned about."
"We understand that the system is struggling because these medications are expensive," Saag added, "and we need to provide some at least indirect guidance on who has the highest priority."
The CDC is currently recommending that all Americans born from 1945 to 1965 be tested at least once for HCV, since studies suggest that about 2 million of them have the virus.
One goal of the guidelines is to create a larger clinical workforce capable of treating patients with HCV, especially if that testing takes hold and a large number of people suddenly begin demanding treatment.
"There aren't enough hepatologists in the United States to see all these patients," Saag said. "These guidelines will be able to help educate not only those who are very expert in the field about new and emerging treatment trends, but also to educate those who are perhaps new to the treatment of hepatitis C."
Lucinda K. Porter, RN
Hepatitis C and Milk Thistle
We begin with this months issue of "Annals of Hepatogly" with an article addressing the cost of new HCV therapies.
The good, the bad and the ugly of the new treatments for hepatitis C virus
September - October, 2014
Vol. 13 Issue 5
The good, the bad and the ugly of the new treatments for hepatitis C virus
The cost of new hepatitis C treatments
Karen V. Silva-Vidal, Nahum Méndez-Sánchez. Liver Research Unit ...
Reducing the cost of new hepatitis C drugs
An index of current articles expressing concerns about the pricing of Gilead's Sovaldi.
The American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), in collaboration with the International Antiviral Society-USA (IAS-USA), today released the latest section of their website, www.hcvguidance.org, which assists clinicians treating patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV). The new section is titled, "When and in Whom to Initiate HCV Therapy."
With the addition of the new section, www.hcvguidance.org now offers clinicians information on how to prioritize treatment for those patients who will derive the most benefit or will have the greatest impact on limiting further HCV transmission. Highest priority should be given to patients with advanced fibrosis with compensated cirrhosis and liver transplant recipients and high priority given to patients at high risk for liver-related complications and severe extra-hepatic HCV complications. The guidance provides further detailed information on additional conditions that warrant prioritization of treatment.
Continue reading...
Article published in MedPageToday
Guidelines: Treat Sickest HCV Patients First
Published: Aug 11, 2014
Patients with less advanced fibrosis but other life-threatening complications, such as cryoglobulinemia, should also be at the head of the list for new direct-acting treatment regimens, Jensen told MedPage Today during a teleconference on the new guidelines.
The societies launched their guidelines in January to help physicians cope with an expected demand for treatment as new regimens reach the clinic.
Unusually, the guidelines are online and under constant revision, making them a "living document" that can cope with a rapidly changing field, according to Michael Saag, MD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the guidelines co-chair for IAS-USA.
The latest addition, reporters were told, is a section on when -- and in which patients -- to initiate therapy.
An estimated 3 million to 4 million Americans have chronic HCV and about half are not aware of it. Many will develop advanced liver disease or liver cancer.
The advent of the novel direct-acting agents -- the first were approved in 2011 -- offers the possibility of eradicating the disease in a "very high percentage" of patients, Jensen said.
The guidelines argue that all patients with chronic HCV could benefit from treatment -- but some need it more urgently than others, he added. Not all patients "can receive treatment immediately upon the approval of new agents," he said. "From a clinical perspective, we are most concerned with those with severe liver disease," he said. The guidelines do not directly address the issue of the cost of the some of the new agents, which has raised concern about the impact on the healthcare system if many thousands of patients seek therapy.
"We hope that the cost issues will be sorted out in another venue," Jensen said, "but it's really patient-directed care that we're concerned about."
"We understand that the system is struggling because these medications are expensive," Saag added, "and we need to provide some at least indirect guidance on who has the highest priority."
The CDC is currently recommending that all Americans born from 1945 to 1965 be tested at least once for HCV, since studies suggest that about 2 million of them have the virus.
One goal of the guidelines is to create a larger clinical workforce capable of treating patients with HCV, especially if that testing takes hold and a large number of people suddenly begin demanding treatment.
"There aren't enough hepatologists in the United States to see all these patients," Saag said. "These guidelines will be able to help educate not only those who are very expert in the field about new and emerging treatment trends, but also to educate those who are perhaps new to the treatment of hepatitis C."
Bloggers Corner
Lucinda K. Porter, RN
Hepatitis C and Milk Thistle
A patient wrote to me this week, asking what I thought of a particular protocol purporting to cure hepatitis C. The protocol uses a variety of herbs, mostly milk thistle. I told her that I don’t believe that herbs can cure hepatitis C. I think that when used appropriately, herbs may help a variety of ailments, but when it comes to curing hepatitis C, we haven’t yet found an herbal path..
Opiferum
Watching the world get better
August Newsletters
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August Newsletters
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