Friday, September 2, 2016

September HCV Newsletters and Headlines

September HCV Newsletters and Headlines
Hello everyone, welcome to the start of September, fall is in the air.

Sit back and enjoy this months issue of HCV newsletters, blog updates with a look at todays headlines. 

News & Research

All You Need to Know: September’s Crucial Verdict on the Sofosbuvir Patent Saga
Some countries have already protested Gilead’s patent on sofosbuvir. For example, China and Ukraine have rejected the patent on the pro-drug form of sofosbuvir. In Egypt, the primary patent application was reject even as a company named Pharco developed a generic version of sofosbuvir and applied for WHO pre-qualification for it. More patent oppositions on sofosbuvir have been filed in Argentina, Brazil, France, Russia and Thailand....

Women  may be more likely to develop alcoholic liver disease, even among those who drink less alcohol than men...

Competition Works Best to Control Drug Prices
If you haven’t heard about EpiPen’s unconscionable price increases, you have probably been in an ashram.

Liver transplants' effect on patients' health insurance post-Medicaid expansion
September 2, 2016
Findings published in Liver Transplantation suggest the number of patients who switched from private insurance to Medicaid post-liver transplant was greater in Medicaid expansion states than non-expansion ones.

Trending News Today: Hepatitis C Drug Access Lawsuit by Mumia Abu-Jamal Denied
The opioid epidemic has been an ongoing concern with the synthetic opioid, fentanyl, Prince's cause of death being the latest. However, Ohio officials have ...

Jerry Bagel: Starting the Treatment Process for Plaque Psoriasis
MD Magazine - Sept 2
Or for example if someone has hepatitis C or Crohn's disease, you could opt for another avenue of treatment. “You need to clearly know the adverse event profile ...

US veterans have increased frequency of HCC at autopsy
United States military veterans had an increased frequency of hepatocellular carcinoma at autopsy compared with the general population, according to recent findings published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Six guidelines recommended screening for liver malignancies in kidney transplant recipients, especially those with cirrhosis, liver disease, or hepatitis B or C..

Aug 31, 2016 | Caitlyn Fitzpatrick
Published in the Journal of Hepatology, the results showed that hepatitis C RNA levels in people with HCV genotype 3 who achieved sustained virologic response (SVR) were significantly lower during the first four weeks of SOF/RBV treatment than the levels observed in those who ended up relapsing.

Exploring Treatment Failure Among Hepatitis C Patients
Although direct acting antivirals (DAAs) have revolutionized the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV), a small fraction of patients still experience treatment failure

Studying Faldaprevir and Deleobuvir Use in NS3/4A and NS5B Amino-acid Variants of Hepatitis C
Faldaprevir and deleobuvir resistance-associated variants (RAVs) are more common among virologic failures than at baseline in patients with treatment emergent NS3/4A and NS5B amino-acid variants of hepatitis C virus (HCV), according to the results of a recent study. Published on the website PLOSOne, the study was conducted by Kristi Berger, PhD, of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, in Ridgefield Connecticut, and colleagues.

U. of Minnesota sues Gilead
The Biological SCENE-16 hours ago
The University of Minnesota filed a complaint in federal court on Aug. 29 charging that Gilead Sciences' multi-billion-dollar hepatitis C drugs Sovaldi, Harvoni, ...

Colorado to expand coverage for Hep C patients, but some still won’t get the expensive drug
By Jennifer Brown | jbrown@denverpost.com
Colorado will increase access to a life-saving, expensive hepatitis C drug, covering needy patients in earlier stages of liver disease than were previously considered, the state Medicaid department said Thursday.

Publication Updates

Clinical Liver Disease
View recently published articles in the latest issue of Clinical Liver Disease (CLD).
CLD is the official digital educational resource from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

Of Interest - Velpatasvir and sofosbuvir: How will we use a new drug when the old agents work well?
The rapid development of highly efficacious and well-tolerated regimens for treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been a remarkable advance. Direct-acting antiviral combinations are available for each of the six HCV genotypes (GTs). Because sustained virological response (SVR) rates are greater than 95% for most patient populations, it may be questioned why new regimens are under development.​
Watch a video presentation of this article
Begin here...

Journal Of Hepatology
Harel Dahari, Phillippe Halfon, Scott J. Cotler
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2016.05.028
Journal of Hepatology, Vol. 65, Issue 3, p462–464
The concept of response-guided therapy (RGT) was developed to limit duration of exposure to interferon (IFN) alpha-based treatment in order to reduce side effects while optimizing response rates.

The recent approval of sofosbuvir (SOF) and other direct acting antivirals (DAAs) has resulted in a shift in the treatment paradigm [[4], [5]]. Sofosbuvir-based regimens achieve high (>90%) sustained-virological response (SVR or cure) rates with limited side effects and relatively short duration of therapy (8–24 weeks). The initial clinical trials data with SOF did not indicate an association between on-treatment virus levels and SVR due to high cure rates, lack of on-treatment viral breakthrough, and rapid viral decline kinetics that give rise to much earlier viral suppression compared to IFN ± ribavirin (RBV) therapy [6. In the initial clinical trials with SOF, HCV RNA suppression by week 4 was nearly universal and was not associated with cure, including patients infected with HCV genotype-3 who are currently considered the most difficult to treat [[7], [8]]. Subsequent studies did not find an association between early viral kinetics and treatment outcomes [[9], [10]]. As a result, on-treatment HCV RNA measurements (weeks 2 and/or 4) are currently recommended by both the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) (www.easl.eu) and the AASLD/IDSA (www.hcvguidelines.org) only as a means to monitor adherence and a fixed duration of DAA therapy has eclipsed the RGT approach....
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New England Journal Of Medicine
Review Article
Treatment of Patients with Cirrhosis
August 25, 2016 | P.S. Ge and B.A. Runyon
N Engl J Med 2016;375:767-77. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra1504367
This guide to the practical treatment of patients with cirrhosis summarizes recent developments. It includes advice on medical management, invasive procedures, nutrition, prevention, and strategies to protect the cirrhotic liver from harm.
Full Text - Download PDF

Newsletters
Welcome to this months collection of viral hepatitis newsletters.

HCV Advocate
HCV Advocate Newsletter
The HCV Advocate newsletter is a valuable resource designed to provide the hepatitis C community with monthly updates on events, clinical research, and education.
In addition check out; HCV Medications Blog with easy to find information; listed clearly by HCV genotype. ​Easy to navigate, easy to read.

Newsletter
September Issue
HCV Advocate Clinical Trials Reference Guide is now available to search for hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV/HCV coinfected trials. There are instructions on the front page of the Reference Guide to search for clinical trials. The Reference Guide will be updated on a regular basis.

A companion piece—How to Evaluate a Clinical Trial—provides simple tips to help decide whether a particular clinical trial is right for you.

HealthWise—The Tragic Tale of Hemophilia, Hepatitis, and HIV
by Lucinda K. Porter, RN
Lucinda probes the history of ‘bad blood’ scandals, and the people and communities affected.

Under the Umbrella—No Man is an Island:
Part 1, Hepatitis C in Rural Southern Indiana by Matthew Zielske. Matthew discusses the HIV and hepatitis C outbreak in Indiana and the community response.

HCV Advocate Monthly Pipeline has been updated with more information about the results from Gilead’s phase 2 study of sofosbuvir, velpatasvir and voxilaprevir to treat hepatitis C.

What’s Up!
We have updated the following fact sheets:
HCSP Fact Sheets—HCV Populations:
African Americans and hepatitis C
Genotype 2
Genotype 3
Easy C:
What is Drug Resistance?
Easy B’s
HBV Transmission and Prevention – the entire series of our hepatitis B fact sheets have been reviewed and updated.
HCV Medications Blog has been updated with information about Viekira XR a time-released formulation of Viekira Pak that was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Begin here.....

HEP
HEP Fall 2016 - Special Issue
In every issue of HEP, you'll find the hottest topics of interest to our readers along with cutting-edge health information.

Hep C Treatment Access Increases Nationwide
Telemedicine: The Future of Hepatitis C Care?
Hep C Testing Could Soon Be Easier
View all topics
Begin here...

AGA Institute
GI & Hepatology News
GI & Hepatology News is the official newspaper of the AGA Institute and provides the gastroenterologist with timely and relevant news and commentary about clinical developments and about the impact of health-care policy. The newspaper is led by an internationally renowned board of editors.

This Months Issue
September 2016 PDF
Deals likely the way to pay for HCV drugs
‘I still think the challenge we are going to face now is it’s still not gotten down to a price that’s low enough to really make it affordable to cover a million people in the Medicaid program.’

Clues found to fibrosis progression in chronic HCV
The investigators wrote that the association between genotype 3 and cirrhosis should be “interpreted cautiously” because of the low number of these patients in their study.

8 weeks of sofosbuvir/ledipasvir found real world effective
Clinical trials of sofosbuvir, ledipasvir/sofosbuvir, and paritaprevir/ritonavir/ombitasvir and dasabuvir (PrOD) have reported SVR rates well above 90%, “with the exception of certain subgroups, such as patients with Child’s B or C cirrhosis and those infected with genotype 3 HCV,” the researchers noted. However, older interferon-based regimens did not perform as well in the real world as in trials, and “it is unclear if this is the case for current interferon-free regimens.”

The National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable 
The National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable is a broad coalition working to fight, and ultimately end, the hepatitis B and hepatitis C epidemics. We seek an aggressive response from policymakers, public health officials, medical and health care providers, the media, and the general public through our advocacy, education, and technical assistance.

Join us for Friday, September 9, 2016 from 1:00–2:30 pm Eastern for a webinar highlighting the work of advocates who have led successful efforts to expand access to hepatitis C treatment in their states.

HCV Action
HCV Action brings together hepatitis C health professionals from across the patient pathway with the pharmaceutical industry and patient representatives to share expertise and good practice.

Latest Newsletter
Hepatitis C in the UK 2016 report released

The New York City Hepatitis C Task Force
NYC Hep C Task Force
The New York City Hepatitis C Task Force is a city-wide network of service providers and advocates concerned with hepatitis C and related issues. The groups come together to learn, share information and resources, network, and identify hepatitis C related needs in the community. Committees form to work on projects in order to meet needs identified by the community.

September News: Hepatitis & Liver Cancer Resources, Hep C Screening & Linkage to Care Trainings, NYC Conference on African Immigrant Health

The American Liver Foundation
Liver Lowdown is the monthly general interest e-newsletter of the American Liver Foundation.

Help ALF Celebrate 40!
2016 marks our 40th Anniversary as the only nonprofit dedicated exclusively to liver health and disease. Join us in raising awareness and eliminating the stigma as part of our virtual celebration!

Latest Newsletter

Additional Resources

FINAL HepCBC’s MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
The hepc.bull, has been “Canada’s hepatitis C journal” since the late 1990’s and was published nonstop since 2001. The last print edition was Issue #200: Summer, 2016.

It contained the latest research results, government policy changes, activities and campaigns, articles by patients and caregivers, and a list of support groups plus other useful links–all of which can now be found on this website and on our Facebook page: Hepcbc Hepatitis C Education-Prevention.

Download The Final Edition of the hepc.bull

Blog Updates

Creating a World Free of Hepatitis C
by LUCINDA PORTERWelcome to my website and blog. My name is Lucinda Porter and I am a nurse committed to raising awareness about hepatitis C. I believe that we can create a world free of hepatitis C. We do this together, one step at a time.

New Entry
By Lucinda Porter
Lately, I feel like I am sitting at the crossroads of health, illness, life and death. These four concepts intersect all of our lives.

HEPATITISC.NET
Stay up to date on Hepatitis C news, hear from our patient advocates and physician experts. The HepatitisC.net Headlines will provide tips and tools for living with and managing Hepatitis C.

By Jenelle Marie Davis - September 1, 2016
It is estimated that there are over 3 million Americans living with hepatitis C at this very moment. Of course, there are millions more if you consider the entire world’s population.
By Karen Hoyt - August 31, 2016
So you’ve come here to learn about the hepatitis C virus. I’ll bet you’ve found that this can lead to that, and if you take this, then something else will happen.
READ MORE

Beginner’s Guide to Hepatitis C
By Karen Hoyt - August 31, 2016
So you’ve come here to learn about the hepatitis C virus. I’ll bet you’ve found that this can lead to that, and if you take this, then something else will happen. There is so much to learn in the beginning about the hepatitis C virus. Here are some tips to get you going and keep your focus as you learn about hep C and how it will affect your life.
READ MORE

By Jenelle Marie Davis - August 30, 2016
What is ascites? Ascites is the accumulation of fluid within the abdominal or peritoneal cavity. The fluid is typically serous fluid, which looks clear or very pale yellow. Ascites can exist in...

I Help C 
Karen Hoyt, is an inspirational woman, HCV advocate, and author who is committed to sharing information about hepatitis C. 

New Post
By Karen Hoyt

HEP
Your Guide To  Hepatitis 
Hep is an award-winning print and online brand for people living with and affected by viral hepatitis. Offering unparalleled editorial excellence since 2010, Hep and Hep Magazine are the go-to source for educational and social support for people living with hepatitis.

Latest Blog Updates
Health literacy's role in the HCV Treatment Cascade

By Matthew Zielske  
By Greg Jefferys 

View All Blogs At Hep

The Hepatitis B Foundation
The Hepatitis B Foundation is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a cure for hepatitis B and helping to improve the lives of those affected worldwide through research, education and patient advocacy.

HBV Blog
By Christine Kukka
For years, public health advocates have struggled to educate both doctors and Asian-Americans about the high risk of hepatitis B that this ethnic group faces. It’s been a slow, uphill battle marked by moderate success.
Begin here....

Healthy You

NIH News in Health
Check out the September issue of NIH News in Health, the monthly newsletter bringing you practical health news and tips based on the latest NIH research.

Out-of-control eating can look and feel remarkably similar to an addiction to drugs. Scientists are analyzing the brain’s role in binge eating.
Read more about out-of-control eating.


ACP Internist
ACP Internist provides news and information for internists about the practice of medicine and reports on the policies, products and activities of ACP.
Much research is currently delving into the pain mechanisms of fibromyalgia, a disorder defined by widespread muscle pain that many patients find debilitating and that has such associated symptoms as fatigue, lack of restorative sleep, and memory difficulties. But there remains considerable dissent among the medical community about the condition's cause.

News

FDA Bans 19 Chemicals Used In Antibacterial Soaps
Consumers don't need to use antibacterial soaps, and some of them may even be dangerous, the Food and Drug Administration says.

FDA requires new warnings on danger of combining opioids ...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned doctors in the spring against prescribing opioids with benzodiazepines, except for ...

Research

Effects of Dark Chocolate on NOX-2-Generated Oxidative Stress in Patients With Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis  
Can chocolate be any more awesome? New research finds that cocoa polyphenols may reduce oxidative stress in NASH.
Aug 29, 2016 | ARTICLES | Caitlyn Fitzpatrick
It’s no secret that excessive alcohol consumption is dangerous to the liver; that’s exactly why patients with hepatitis C are advised to steer clear of it.

In Case You Missed It

Serious Infections Skyrocket In People Who Inject Illegal Drugs
Bloodstream and heart valve infections are on the rise in people who inject drugs (PWID), more commonly known as IV drug users (IVDU).

Off The Cuff

Hep C On Reddit
A community for those with Hep C, those that want to learn more about Hep C and everyone else.

Stay well, see you soon.

Tina

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