CDC now recommends every Baby Boomer should get tested for Hep C

The CDC is now recommending that every Baby Boomer (person born between 1945-1965) should get tested for Hepatitis C. Why? Because people who fall in that age range account for roughly 3/4 of all Hepatitis C patients in this country. You can read the new CDC recommendations here (Recommendations for the Identification of Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection Among Persons Born During 1945–1965).

FDA approves Victrelis (boceprevir) for Hepatitis C

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Victrelis (boceprevir) to treat certain adults with chronic hepatitis C. Victrelis is used for patients who still have some liver function, and who either have not been previously treated with drug therapy for their hepatitis C or who have failed such treatment. Victrelis is approved for use in combination with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin.

The safety and effectiveness of Victrelis was evaluated in two phase 3 clinical trials with 1,500 adult patients. In both trials, two-thirds of patients receiving Victrelis in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin experienced a significantly increased sustained virologic response (i.e., the hepatitis C virus was no longer detected in the blood 24 weeks after stopping treatment), compared to pegylated interferon and ribavirin alone, the current standard of care.

Xifaxan (rifaximin) for hepatic encephalopathy

The FDA has approved Xifaxan (rifaximin) for hepatic encephalopathy. Here's the press release:

FDA Approves New Use of Xifaxan for Patients with Liver Disease

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the use of Xifaxan for reduction in the risk of the recurrence of overt hepatic encephalopathy (HE) in patients with advanced liver disease. This is a new use for Xifaxan (rifaximin), a drug that has been approved for the treatment of traveler’s diarrhea.

Hepatitis C may be spreading due to a former hospital worker

Here's a follow-up to a sad story on CNN where a hospital worker may have infected numerous patients with hepatitis C. She was abusing fentanyl and using the same syringe on patients. Hospital worker may have exposed patients to hepatitis C.

Can't see the video? Visit my MedicineandTechnology.com to view the video.

Hospital worker may have exposed patients to hepatitis C

This is a very sad and disturbing story. A surgical technician has at Rose Medical Center in Denver has admitted to secretly injecting herself in a bathroom and using unclean syringes as replacements for patients. Kristen Diane Parker had hepatitis C, presumably from IV drug use, and she took patient fentanyl injections and replaced them with saline. She worked at Rose from October 2008 to April 2009. So far, nine patients who had surgery there during that time have tested positive for hepatitis C. That is really a shame. Parker should have gotten professional help for her drug addiction. Now, Parker is in federal custody facing three drug-related charges. If she is found to have done serious harm to a patient, she could face up to 20 years in prison. If a patient dies due to her actions, she could face life in prison.

According to CNN, in a statement to police, Parker said, "I can't take back what I did, but I will have to live with it for the rest of my life, and so does everyone else." Rose Medical Center is contacting 4,700 patients who had surgery at Rose during the time Parker was employed there. Another 1,200 patients may have been infected between May 4, 2009, and July 1, 2009, when Parker worked at Audubon Ambulatory Surgical Center in Colorado Springs.

Hepatitis C can be treated, but the treatment regimen isn't easy to take. Advances in antiviral therapies have improved outcomes for hepatitis C and several new and novel agents are in development. Advances in drug development may lead to a quick and easy cure for hepatitis C. Wouldn't that be nice? I know many people who are infected with hepatitis C due to blood transfusions. We (as the medical community) didn't know how to identify hepatitis C before 1992. It was called non-A, non-B viral hepatitis. We now call it hepatitis C. Chronic infection can lead to cirrhosis and liver failure. It can even lead to liver cancer. To read the CNN story, click here.

AASLD Hepatitis C Practice Guidelines April 2009

The AASLD (American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases) just released updated Practice Guidelines on the Diagnosis, Management, and Treatment of Hepatitis C. They just came out this month in Hepatology, so make sure you take a look at them. Advances in medical technology are improving noninvasive liver tests of fibrosis and these tests may someday replace the needle biopsy. I did some biomedical research on biopsy needles during my days at MIT.

Pegintron (Peginterferon alfa-2b) Receives Expanded FDA Indication

You may have already seen this on Forbes. On March 11, the FDA approved the combination of Pegintron (Peginterferon alfa-2b) and Rebetrol (ribavirin) for treating chronic hepatitis C in patients 3 years of age and older with compensated liver disease. This is now the first and only pegylated interferon combination therapy approved in the United States that is not restricted to treatment-naive patients. Treatment to this combination is often dependent on your type of hepatits C virus genotype. There is such a need for better therapies for patients with chronic hepatitis C in this country. So many people got infected by blood transfusions before 1992 when the medical community didn't know about hepatitis C.

Pegintron is manufactured by Schering-Plough. If Schering-Plough merges with Merck, then the new company will be called Merck, so things may get a bit confusing.