Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Dr. Luis Balart, who helped develop a cure for hepatitis C, dies at 70

Dr. Luis Balart, who helped develop a cure for hepatitis C, dies at 70
Dr. Luis A. Balart, a specialist in diseases of the liver who helped develop a cure for hepatitis C, died of leukemia Monday (Jan. 14) in Boston. He was 70.

Dr. Balart, who had lived in New Orleans since 1961, was in Boston for treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

During his four-decade career, which included liver transplantation, Dr. Balart was chief of the gastroenterology departments at LSU and Tulane University medical schools, and he worked at Ochsner Medical Center, Southern Baptist Hospital and Tulane Medical Center.

Among his accomplishments was the development of a cure for hepatitis C, a viral affliction that can lead to liver disease, cirrhosis, liver failure and cancer. It is primarily spread through blood-to-blood contact, and about 2.7 million Americans are estimated to suffer from chronic hepatitis C, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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