Cassidy, Van Hollen Introduce Life-Saving Hepatitis C Legislation
“WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced life-saving legislation to cure low-income and hard-to-reach Americans with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Cassidy and Van Hollen’s Cure Hepatitis C Act will establish a voluntary drug subscription model to connect HCV patients to treatment and stop the spread of the disease. Today’s treatment for HCV cures more than 95% of cases with almost no side effects.
“We can virtually eliminate hepatitis C in a fiscally responsible way,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Curing hepatitis C makes Americans healthy again while also saving the federal government billions by eliminating the need for chronic care. It’s a win for patients, and it’s a win for the taxpayers.”
“Hepatitis C claims thousands of American lives every year – but we have a proven model that can make this preventable public health crisis a thing of the past. Our bipartisan legislation offers a solution towards ensuring communities most at risk have access to the highly effective treatments that are available – saving lives while also saving billions in taxpayer dollars that are currently spent on costly chronic care,” said Senator Van Hollen.”
Arkansas All-Payer Claims Database Analysis of Hepatitis C
“ACHI was asked by the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) to enhance current surveillance data regarding hepatitis C infections in Arkansas, adding insights based on our analysis of data from the Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative’s All-Payer Claims Database and our unique data linkage capabilities. This report is intended to help guide future hepatitis prevention and treatment initiatives.”
Persistence of hepatitis C virus in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients who achieved sustained virological response following treatment with direct-acting antivirals is associated with a distinct pre-existing immune exhaustion status
“Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a primary hepatotropic pathogen responsible for acute and chronic hepatitis C, however, it can also cause “occult” infection (OCI), defined as the presence of the virus’ genetic material in hepatocytes and/or peripheral blood cells, but not in plasma/serum. Assessment of the sustained virologic response (SVR) after treatment with direct-acting antivirals (DAA) is based exclusively on HCV-RNA testing in plasma/serum, which may preclude the diagnosis of post-treatment OCI.”
