TOPIC: Liver International - Debates in Hepatology

This article about the rationale for using generic hepatitis C medication has just been published in Liver International in their section "Debates in Hepatology". Click on the image to read it:




The use of generic medications for hepatitis C

James A. D. Freeman¹ and Andrew Hill²

1 GP2U Telehealth, Hobart, Tas., Australia
2 St Stephens AIDS Centre, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, UK

Liver Int. 2016; 36: 929–932. DOI: 10.1111/liv.13157

Abstract
Hepatitis C, hepatitis B, HIV, TB and malaria are the five major causes of infectious disease death worldwide. In a breakthrough that rivals the invention of penicillin, drugs that cure hepatitis C, with minimal side effects and high success rates, have reached the market, but, in what must be one of the greatest tragedies of modern times, these life-saving medications are not being deployed on a mass scale. Pharmaceutical patents are gifted to private corporations by governments for the dual purposes of protecting R&D expenditure and encouraging innovation. Unfortunately the monopoly pricing power these patents provision currently lacks adequate checks and balances, is open to abuse, and is quite clearly being abused. The sort of legislative changes required to deliver on the original goals of pharmaceutical patents will take years or even decades to eventuate. Parallel importation of generic medication offers hope to the millions of patients with HCV unable to afford access to vastly overpriced originator medications. Doctors prescribing and monitoring patients taking generics can take comfort from the fact that the REDEMPTION trial results show, like the HIV generics that came before them, that HCV generics deliver robust clinical results.

Read the full version in the PDF

Very well written and argued.

It will be interesting to see how vested interest groups will try to manipulate, or refute, the data presented in the article, when critiquing it, or attempting to mount a counter argument to justify the status quo. It’s going to take a very skilled spin doctor to do so. The spin, however, will be predicable ... there's only so many ways you can lie about the same thing over and over ....

Congratulations . Who knew a medical journal article could be such a gratifying read.

Yes, very well put indeed.

Dr F - can you keep let us know if response letters get published in forthcoming issues of the journal please?

I suspect they will be interesting!

Patrick

For Romanian speaking persons, the article written by Dr. Freeman and Dr. Hill, translated in the Romanian language may be read on the fixhepc forum at the following location:
fixhepc.com/forum/new-to-forum/969-fixhe....html?start=15#18438

Cheers,
RHF

Thank you Dr. Freeman, for this addition to our ever growing arsenal of weapons we can utilize in this fight against the enemies weapons of choice. That is, ignorance and deliberate misinformation, aimed at FixhepC and generic efficacy.
Excuse me for using the wartime analogies, but for most of us here, we are truly in a fight for our lives and this seems apropos.



MK

(Please consider this message as a kind of fun/joke/crazy idea):


Thinking on the compare made in the article about producing the wine, I was getting amuzed by the idea of how would it be if one could make at home his/her own Sovaldi or Harvoni ?
That would be a nice dream for HCV patients, perhaps a nightmare for Gilead.

(I end this message with " Do not try this at home")

Cheers
RHF