Friday, April 7, 2017
News Recap
Canada
Effective April 2017, Alberta Health has expanded access to treatments for hepatitis C in line with what the provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Québec have just done (Alberta expands drug coverage for hepatitis C patients). As Dr. Shafran, who is clearly worried about continued restrictions, says, “The funders have now opened the doors to let us treat people with mild liver disease … if ...
More Albertans suffering from hepatitis C will receive treatment thanks to public funding for new therapies, says Stephen Shafran, a University of Alberta professor of medicine who specializes in the virus. He spoke Wednesday to Postmedia about a game-changing drug and how Alberta can help eradicate hepatitis C.
Here’s a condensed, edited version the interview.
Q: Alberta Health has made the drug Epclusa available to more patients. The treatment is a p
From the "Tell me something I don't already know department"!
Coverage denials by payors are the main factor in a dramatic rise in failure to start hepatitis C drug treatment over the past three years, according to new data released March 8 by Trio Health, which has collected real-world evidence on 15,000 HCV patients since the launch of the direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) in 2014.
As of 2016, more than one-third of patients prescribed DAA treatm
Tens of thousands of Canadian patients with mild versions of chronic hepatitis C could soon receive public funding for medications that cure the infection now that the provinces have sealed a deal with three pharmaceutical companies to reduce the cost of the ultra-expensive drugs.
The pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance (pCPA), which negotiates prices on behalf of the provincial and territorial public drug programs, announced on Tuesday that it had reach
