When doctors tell people with Hepatitis C not to get treated.

One of the things that really gets my blood boiling is when doctors tell people with Hepatitis C not to get treated.

Sometimes they tell people that there no need to get treated because the Hep C is in a dormant phase (such a phase does not exist).

Sometimes they say there no need to treat the Hep C because its not doing any damage (Hep C is always damaging the liver).

Then of course there is the wonderful advice given by many doctors in the USA that the patient should not use generic Hepatitis C treatment under any circumstance.

Below is the email I received today that got my blood boiling again.

Hi Greg,

My daughter just called, she has been having some chest pains so she went to the doctor and they did a blood test. She got tested for Hep C also and guess what? She tested positive… Right now she’s calling to find out what genotype she has, it might be 1a like I had.

 I would feel awful if it was me that she caught it from; but the important thing is for her to get treated. She needs my GI doctor. The nurse who organised the tests told her she probably would not get the medicine because they want to keep an eye on the virus and see how it develops. My daughter told the nurse that she wanted it cured as soon as possible and that she would get the generic Hep C medicines from India… Their response to that was that they advised her against it! She wants to get cured before she gets cancer like I did.

She called me up and asked me to get hold of you. I asked if I could add her to your group but she doesn’t want anyone to know. I know how she feels, and I hate it that this disease has that stigma to it but bottom line is, when we find out her genotype, you’ll have another to add to your list.

I’m so grateful I found you and wanted to let you know he or I will be getting hold of you. She’s the one you had a conversation with about my payment. 

Thank you so much for being there and helping so many people,

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Every week I get emails from people all over the world wanting to buy generic Hep C medication from India and in most cases they have a doctor who is happy to supervise their treatment. One of the major exceptions to this is the USA where about 80% of doctors stridently refuse to supervise the treatment of a patient who chooses to use a generic Hep C medication.

So let us unpack this.

Here is a doctor with a  patient who has Hepatitis C. The patient is choosing to treat their Hep C with generics for one reason, they have no other option.

Either their health insurance refuses to cover the high cost of brand treatment or they do not have health insurance.

Mostly these people have an advanced stage of Hepatitis C where the symptoms of the disease are seriously impacting the patient’s daily life and general.

So they have made this decision to treat with generic Hepatitis C medication because they have no other options. They go to their doctor to ask them for support and to monitor the treatment.

The doctor refuses!

Does the doctor have the best interests of their patient at heart?

Obviously, the answer is no.

So why does the doctor refuse to monitor their patient’s treatment?

Is it illegal for the doctor to monitor a person treating their Hepatitis C with generic medication?

Absolutely not!

Is generic treatment somehow less effective than the expensive brand versions such as Harvoni or Epclusa or Maviret?

Absolutely not. In fact licensed generic Harvoni and Epclusa are chemically identical to the brand versions. Whilst generic Sofosbuvir + Daclatasvir has been proved to be actually more effective than Maviret and about 100^th the price.

Indeed, there have been numerous scientific studies published that show treatment of Hepatitis C with generic medication has exactly the same cure rates as treating with brand versions. Here is one example.

So why do so many doctors in the USA refuse to monitor their patients when they choose to cure themselves with generic Hep C medication?

The answer is simple: They are terrified of Big Pharma.

Big Pharma is the classic bully. Big Pharma uses its wealth, resources and representatives to scare doctors in the USA with stories of fake medicine, law suits, ineffective treatment and so on.

All false claims, all fake news, all rumor mongering. All designed to protect Big Pharma’s vast profits.

Of course, it does not work on all doctors. I guess more than 20% of doctors in the USA are happy to monitor patients choosing the generic treatment route. About 10% are even happy to write prescriptions for patients choosing that route.

Because they can, because they should, because it is the right thing for a doctor to do.

So, I say to doctors in the USA… don’t be fooled by Big Pharma. Don’t be bullied by Big Pharma.

Your duty to your patients is a duty of care, it is the oath you swore when you became a doctor. Show some courage and integrity and help your patient who is asking for your help, who desperately needs your help.

It is your duty. It is the right thing to do.

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