This article about the rationale for using generic hepatitis C medication has just been published in Liver International in their section "Debates in Hepatology".
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 article at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/liv.13157/full
To find out more about generic hepatitis C medication please visit our forum where you can read the stories of patient successfully accessing and treating their hepatitis C with affordable generic medication.
