When is Hep C Treatment NOT Recommended?

[Hep Editors]

We’re going to reference recommendations from the Academy for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA):

 They say HCV treatment should be offered to nearly all chronically infected people 18 years or older--regardless of their presence or absence of symptoms, the route of their HCV infection, their genotype or their HCV viral load.

There are actually only two major reasons why someone wouldn’t be offered hep C treatment under these guidelines:

1) If a patient has known allergies to HCV drugs
2) They have a non-liver-related terminal illness with a life expectancy of less than a year.

Unfortunately, we all know that immediate priority for treatment right now is going to people with cirrhosis (stage 4 liver disease) or severe fibrosis (stage 3). But the official guidelines say new drugs should go to *nearly everyone.

For more info: http://www.hepmag.com/articles/2512_18754.shtml

[dragonslayer]

Interesting, in that I believe it was the very same AASLD who's previous guidelines were the basis for  insurance companies denying coverage for all but F3 and F4 cases!  Glad they finally came around.