National

British Columbia Expands Medical Coverage For Those With Chronic Hepatitis C

The Canadian Press, 13 Mar, 2018 03:01 PM

VICTORIA — Anyone who has chronic hepatitis C in British Columbia will be able to get treatment covered by British Columbia's PharmaCare program under changes announced by the provincial government.

Health Minister Adrian Dix says a new drug for the treatment of the disease has also been added to the PharmaCare formulary.

Dix says people will be able to get treatment, regardless of the severity of their disease, under the expansion of treatment options covered by PharmaCare.

The government says the new drug, commonly known as Vosevi, was developed for adult patients whose disease has been difficult to treat and was not successfully treated with other medications.

Dix says adding Vosevi to formulary means patients will have multiple treatment options available.

The government estimates that 73,000 people in the province live with the virus, with the cost of treatment ranging from $45,000 to more than $100,000 per patient.

It says chronic hepatitis C can be a life-threatening communicable disease, with serious complications, such as liver failure and liver cancer, if it isn't treated.

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