Hepatitis C

The Department of Veterans Affairs will now be able to treat all veterans who have hepatitis C instead of restricting treatment to only the sickest.

The report found higher death rates from liver cancer among the age group most at risk for hepatitis C virus, those born between 1945 and 1965. But increased rates of diabetes, obesity, and alcohol use are to blame for rising liver cancer deaths as well.

What we're reading, March 1, 2016: physicians greet Merck's new hepatitis C drug with caution; 20% of Puerto Ricans could be infected with the Zika virus in 2016; and nearly $3 billion wasted in cancer medicines.

A review of evidence of the clinical safety and efficacy of Zepatier found that the hepatitis C virus treatment appears to have a less risky safety profile than Sovaldi and a similar safety profile as Harvoni.

What we're reading, February 18, 2016: one-third of clinical trial results are never published; Sandoz challenges rule for notices of biosimilar launches; and hepatitis C combination drug could reduce treatment to just 4 weeks.

What we're reading, January 29, 2016: newly approved hepatitis C cure will increase competition; California will vote on a proposition to control the cost of prescription drugs; and a special report details drug shortages and rationing decisions.

What we're reading, January 28, 2016: Massachusetts' attorney general is threatening to sue Gilead Sciences over the high prices of its hepatitis C drugs; Anthem reports losses on Obamacare health plans; and consumers are satisfied with health coverage and limited networks.

In California, a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of thousands of Blue Cross beneficiaries living with hepatitis C who were denied treatment.

Here are the top 5 papers published by The American Journal of Managed Care and its sister publications about hepatitis C, treatment, and costs of care.

What we're reading, November 24, 2015: expensive hepatitis C drugs are more cost effective when used earlier; clinicians aren't prescribing generics enough; and half of health 45-year-olds will develop prediabetes.

An emergency department screening and testing program based on birth cohort screening and injectable drug use found a high prevalence of the hepatitis C virus antibody among the cohorts tested, and identified several barriers to clinical implementation of the process.

A report released by the California Association of Health Plans projects a huge cost expenditure even if a small proportion of the state's hep C patients are treated with the potentially curative medications.

The arrival of Sovaldi caused pharmacy benefit managers to adjust their strategies for controlling prices for breakthrough therapies. On the eve of a new drug class for cholesterol hitting the market, Express Scripts' Dr. Steve Miller tells Evidence-Based Diabetes Management in an interview how the PBM is working on behalf of managed care in a changed environment.

On the eve of FDA's deadline for acting on the first of an expensive new class of cholesterol therapies, the chief medical officer of the nation's largest pharmacy benefit manager weighs on what steps it is taking on behalf of customers in this changing landscape.

Heterogeneity in Medicaid coverage of the anti-viral agent sofosbuvir is rampant across the United States, with varying reimbursement criteria and lack of conformation to recommendations by professional infectious disease organizations.

The company has announced that patients on Sovaldi or Harvoni who were also on the heart medication amiodarone developed abnormally slow heartbeats. This warning by Gilead could limit the drug's use.

The global price discrimination with Sovaldi has brought to light "pharmacy tourism" - patients trying to acquire the same drug at as much as 1% of the price of the drug in the US market.

The cost of treating the hepatitis C virus with newly approved therapies could total $90 billion over the next 5 years, representing 6.6% of the country's annual prescription spending.

Powerful cholesterol-fighting drugs, PCSK9 inhibitors, could break new ground for payers: a higher-priced therapy could replace generic statins for patients suffering a chronic condition, perhaps for an unspecified period of time.