Medical coverage expanded for chronic hep C patients

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 Tuesday by the provincial government.

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

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

The government estimated 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.

Chronic hepatitis C can be a life-threatening communicable disease, with complications such as liver failure and liver cancer.