No valid evidence $40,000 miracle drug cures hepatitis C – study

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Note from CD: Woke up to this new report this morning and almost got hysterical. Whatever the financial/political motivation behind this report, I know I speak for many others in the HCV community (patients and physicians) who KNOW that this is NOT TRUE. While, unfortunately, some with late-stage disease although they have cleared the virus have not improved (because they were treated too late and too much damage was done), we know that the DAAs work, reverse liver damage, reduce extrahepatic manifestations, and improve quality of life. If anything, evidence points to treating people with hepatitis C as early as possible so that they do not develop end-stage complications! Reversing the damage of 25-30 years of infection does not happen over night!!

A drug hailed as a ‘miracle cure’ for hepatitis C might actually be nothing of the sort, according to new research.

The Cochrane Collaboration, an independent global network of researchers, assessed trials of breakthrough hepatitis C treatments and discovered that expensive direct-acting anti-viral drugs (DAAs) may be ineffective against the disease.

“The lack of valid evidence and the possibility of potentially harming people with chronic hepatitis ought to be considered before treating people with hepatitis C with DAAs,” the report concludes.