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HCVets.com Announces the
Nation-Wide Hep C Veterans Project, "Test &
Treat the Rest" Awareness Campaign
FYI - A
Veterans study reports among Veterans with
chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) a cohort of
7,411 almost all patients reported at least
one comorbid condition almost double the
number of diseases and conditions when
compared to controls.
Hepatitis C is Much
More Than a Liver Disease
FYI - Of
the 25 most common, the majority were
known to be associated with either HCV
antiviral treatment or disease. The five
most frequent were... Read more
http://hcvets.com/data/hcv_liver/2012HCVComorbidityBurden.htm
FYI - The
VA states, 234,000 Veterans have the
Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and receive care
within Veterans Affairs (VA) Heath Care
System. The VA knows about approximately
174,000 of these Veterans in their care.
FYI - More
than
50,000 have not been told
or have
not been tested.
Among the public, millions
of Veterans that do not attend VA Medical
Centers, were also not told of the risk
or tested for the virus. These Veterans are
living unaware because military service
isn't considered "High Risk", in light of
the fact that greater than "One in 10" US
Veterans have hepatitis C"; A rate 5 times
greater than the general population
according to
VA Testimony before the Subcommittee on
Benefits Committee on Veterans’ Affairs,
U.S. House of Representatives.
FYI -
Veterans were promised access to
adequate, timely medical care and
treatment.
Treating veterans for
hepatitis C
within the VA health care system, could cost
more than
$12 billion every year—or about 20
percent of its annual budget.
Congress allocated a fraction needed, almost $1 billion, for medicines with a good portion going to caregivers. However, we need $12 billion to treat everyone with the expensive break-though therapies that offer a possible cure. The success rates of these drugs exceed
85 percent and have less serious side
effects of their predecessors.
Getting the new medicines to veterans is a top priority and literately a matter of life and death.
FYI -
There is another waiting list.
According to the VA treatment guidelines, veterans do not qualify for the "sick enough" list until their livers are completely diseased. The list also includes veterans, who had liver transplants and still have hepatitis C. The virus attacks the new liver with a vengeance making it imperative these medicines are provided.
Unfortunately, there is no consideration for the other serious health effects resulting from the hepatitis C virus.
FYI There is no known medical study that supports the VA denial of treatment and nothing in the policy grants the right to withhold a potentially life-saving drug, particularly on the perverse and pretextual ‘basis’ that it is not ‘medically necessary.
The VA wants us to believe it has no choice but to set guidelines that limit who can be treated with such little funding. However, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT.) has come up with a solution by calling for Secretary McDonald, to uphold the promise made to those that served by immediately declaring the emergency need and override the patents on the life-saving medications.
(Read the letter to VA Secretary Robert McDonald from Senator Bernard Sanders, Chairman, Veterans
Affairs Committee).
Please sign the petition in support
of
Sen. Sanders.
Inform your representative
the impact on health caused by the hepatitis
C virus. This will help provide funding for
care and treatment in the Bills before
Congress. The time to act is NOW!
Sign the Petition
VA Secretary Robert McDonald
Please use VA's emergency powers and
override the patents on high-priced
hepatitis C medicines.
Print and Send Flyer
Find Your
Representative Contact Information
Make known hepatitis C is much more than a
liver disease and withholding treatment is
unacceptable
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
Read More:
News Week- By Gerard
Flynn
The VA's Hepatitis C Problem
http://www.newsweek.com/
50,000 Veterans in VA health care
unknowingly carry the hepatitis C Virus
...a recent VA memo recommends urgently
treating those with advanced liver disease
but holding off for patients with mild cases
of the illness...Speaking on behalf of her
ailing husband, Dorothy Dames says VA
physicians knew Martin Dames had
life-threatening cirrhosis as early as 2002,
but didn’t tell them for more than eight
years.
Cache
Why Are Prescription Drugs So
Expensive? Big Pharma Points To The Cost
Of Research And...
ibtimes.com| By
Harry Hooks served in the Vietnam War
...diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2004 and
has struggled with painful symptoms ... not
yet received any of the new medications, but
the Department of Veterans Affairs has
stopped enrolling... “They ran out of
money...will have to wait.” Excellent
read... In-depth reporting on pharma rules
for profit under scrutiny and why Harry and
millions of other Vets cannot get the
medicine
http://www.ibtimes.com/why-are-prescription-drugs-so-expens…
Hepatitis C drug costing VA, DoD millions
By Patricia Kime, Staff writer
Sanders said Gilead bought the company that
developed Sovaldi for $11 billion and is
expected to make more than $200 billion from
the drug." ... We're looking at a company
who is milking a cash cow for everything
it's worth," Sanders said.
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/pentagon/2015/01/07/hepatitis-c-sovaldi-cost/21334481/
The New York Times reported this
week that an internal proposal to address
the shortage of funds by excluding certain
patients who have advanced terminal diseases
or suffer from...advanced dementia” is
stirring debate inside the department. -
VA to outsource care for 180,000 vets
with hepatitis C
Dennis Wagner, The Arizona Republic
12:27 a.m. EDT June 21, 2015
The VA has spent weeks
developing a dramatic and controversial
transition as patient loads have surged and
funding has run out. ...Vietnam
Veterans of America, ripped the VA
for launching a "faulty plan" and blasted
the idea of medical teams deciding which
patients will be denied antiviral remedies.
"They've set up what I would call... 'death
panels.' ..."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/06/21/va-outsource-care-vets-hepatitis/29059755/
The maneuver also caused a
furor among experts inside the Veterans
Health Administration...200 specialists sent
a letter...expressing their "dismay at this
unacceptable development."
"To halt hepatitis C treatment at VHA
facilities now would be unconscionable,"
they wrote. "We can and must end the
epidemic. Once we have treated every veteran
with hepatitis C, the costs will go away.
... Give us the ammunition, and we will win
this war."
VA to outsource care for 180,000 vets with
hepatitis C
Dennis Wagner, The Republic |
azcentral.com 11:51 a.m. MST June 19, 2015
E-mails show Dr.
David Ross, the VA's director of HIV, HCV
and public-health pathogens programs,
resigned from the working group. "I cannot
in good conscience continue to work on a
plan for rationing care to veterans," he
wrote.
In a separate e-mail to top VA officials,
Ross wrote, "There is no doubt in my mind
that exclusively relying on Choice, rather
than seeking supplemental funding, will be a
disaster for patients, providers and VA."
Tom Berger, executive director of
a health council established by Vietnam
Veterans of America, ripped the VA for
launching a "faulty plan" and blasted the
idea of medical teams deciding which
patients will be denied antiviral remedies.
"They've set up what I would call, in
Sarah Palin's words, 'death panels.' ...
Maybe rationalization panels is a better
term," Berger said.
VA Region Stops Referring Patients To
Outside Hospitals Thanks To Budget Shortfall
Michael Volpe
Contributor
Sign the Petition
VA Secretary Robert McDonald
Please use VA's emergency powers and
override the patents on high-priced
hepatitis C medicines.
Print and Send Flyer
Find Your Representative Contact Information
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
At the very
least, HCVets asks you "Tell A Friend" and
help save lives.
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