Hepatitis C News Update

Alabama Agrees to Lift Medicaid Ban on Hepatitis C Drugs “Alabama’s state Medicaid program and the US Department of Justice reached a settlement that will allow Alabama residents with substance use disorders to receive hepatitis C medication.” Project in Rural Kentucky Shows Progress Toward Hepatitis C Elimination “Three quarters of people who currently or previously used drugs completed treatment for hepatitis C and about two thirds were cured in a low-barrier program in a rural Appalachian community, according to findings presented at the AASLD Liver Meeting.” Vosevi effective rescue therapy in patients with chronic HCV after DAA treatment failure “WASHINGTON — Vosevi, a triple-combination therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus infection, was effective when used as a rescue treatment in patients who did not achieve sustained virologic response with direct-acting antiviral agents.” Impact of Direct-Acting Antiviral Use for Chronic Hepatitis C on Health Care Costs in Medicaid: Economic Model Update “Curative direct-acting antivirals for chronic hepatitis C provide a net economic benefit to Medicaid in less than 1 year. Cumulative savings to date have exceeded $15 billion.” Correlation between serum liver fibrosis markers and early gastroesophageal varices among patients with compensated liver cirrhosis: a cross-sectional analysis “Portal hypertension is a common complication of chronic liver diseases responsible for most liver cirrhosis consequences. In patients with portal hypertension, oesophagogastric variceal bleeding is a leading cause of death.”