This page is an archive. Its content may no longer be accurate and was last updated on the original publication date. It is intended for reference and as a historical record only. For hep C questions, call Help4Hep BC at 1-888-411-7578.
Patients infected by hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Canada have limited access to direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents, according to a new study.
“There are many new DAAs, marketed by different pharmaceutical companies. We studied reimbursement practices for simeprevir, sofosbuvir, ledipasvir-sofosbuvir and paritaprevir-ritonavir-ombitasvir plus dasabuvir. We found that 85% to 92% of the provinces and territories in Canada restrict access to these medications to persons with moderate fibrosis,” lead author Alison Marshall from the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales—Australia, told Medical Economics.
Marshall and colleagues reviewed the reimbursement criteria for those DAAs in Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories. Although Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories are collectively governed by the Canada Health Act, every jurisdiction administers its own health plan.
There were no drug and alcohol use restrictions. However, several criteria, such as active injection drug use, were left to the discretion of the physician, she said.
Quebec did not reimburse simeprevir and sofosbuvir for people co-infected with HIV, but the province is gradually lifting restrictions on access to DAAs based on fibrosis stage. No restrictions were found in the remaining jurisdictions. Prescriber type was restricted to specialists in up to 42% of provinces/territories.
The researchers published their results on October 14, 2016 in CMAJ Open.