Liver Specialist Refutes Study Claiming Hepatitis C Drug Dangers

MD Magazine

Liver Specialist Refutes Study Claiming Hepatitis C Drug Dangers
Editor’s note: Responding to a report on dangers associated with taking direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents for hepatitis C, Douglas Dieterich, MD, director of the Institute for Liver Medicine at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, voiced his opinions on the findings. The ISMP report cited 524 cases of liver failure and 1,058 cases of severe liver damage in patients taking one of nine DAAs. 

 What are some misconceptions that physicians and patients could take from the study?
That the two drugs mentioned Sovaldi and Harvoni are unsafe. It's quite the contrary, they are very safe and they are the safest drugs to use in patients with severely decompensated liver disease—which were the ones who had the complications in this study...
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Related
Medscape Medical News, January 26, 2017
Report Cites Liver Failure Risk With New Hepatitis C Drugs
January 26, 2017
Researchers find 524 cases of liver failure in people taking some of the drugs. Experts say the findings are inconclusive, the fatality rate is low, and the report should not influence prescribing.