Motion – The Available Treatments for Hepatits C Are Cost Effective: Arguments for the Motion

The treatment of hepatitis C has evolved over the past decade, and a combination of interferon (IFN), pegylated or standard type, and ribavirin is now acknowledged as the therapy of choice. Questions remain, however, about the duration of treatment and which patients are the most likely to benefit f...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Norah Terrault
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2002-01-01
Series:Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2002/205482
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850211620994678784
author Norah Terrault
author_facet Norah Terrault
author_sort Norah Terrault
collection DOAJ
description The treatment of hepatitis C has evolved over the past decade, and a combination of interferon (IFN), pegylated or standard type, and ribavirin is now acknowledged as the therapy of choice. Questions remain, however, about the duration of treatment and which patients are the most likely to benefit from therapy. Cost effectiveness analyses (CEAs) have been employed to answer these questions. Before the results can be interpreted appropriately, however, clinicians must make themselves aware of the underlying assumptions and the nature of the ‘reference’ case. Moreover, certain parameters, including quality-of-life evaluations, may not be easily translated from one jurisdiction to another. The costs and benefits of treatment are often very sensitive to such factors as patient age, viral load, histological severity and the viral genotype. Randomized controlled clinical trials, and the CEAs on which they are based, have shown that combination therapy is more cost effective than IFN monotherapy, and that both are cost effective compared with no treatment. Ongoing research on the use of pegylated IFN, weight-adjusted dosing of ribavirin, and the treatment of relapsers and nonresponders will provide valuable data that could be incorporated into future CEAs. Health care resources are vast, but not limitless. Therefore, health care providers need to become aware of how best to allocate resources to the general population. CEAs can facilitate this process by determining which treatment strategies are likely to yield the greatest clinical benefits without excessive expenditures.
format Article
id doaj-art-88cb37ce6a1c4d3799ca91532ef980ae
institution OA Journals
issn 0835-7900
language English
publishDate 2002-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology
spelling doaj-art-88cb37ce6a1c4d3799ca91532ef980ae2025-08-20T02:09:31ZengWileyCanadian Journal of Gastroenterology0835-79002002-01-01161070570910.1155/2002/205482Motion – The Available Treatments for Hepatits C Are Cost Effective: Arguments for the MotionNorah Terrault0Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California, USAThe treatment of hepatitis C has evolved over the past decade, and a combination of interferon (IFN), pegylated or standard type, and ribavirin is now acknowledged as the therapy of choice. Questions remain, however, about the duration of treatment and which patients are the most likely to benefit from therapy. Cost effectiveness analyses (CEAs) have been employed to answer these questions. Before the results can be interpreted appropriately, however, clinicians must make themselves aware of the underlying assumptions and the nature of the ‘reference’ case. Moreover, certain parameters, including quality-of-life evaluations, may not be easily translated from one jurisdiction to another. The costs and benefits of treatment are often very sensitive to such factors as patient age, viral load, histological severity and the viral genotype. Randomized controlled clinical trials, and the CEAs on which they are based, have shown that combination therapy is more cost effective than IFN monotherapy, and that both are cost effective compared with no treatment. Ongoing research on the use of pegylated IFN, weight-adjusted dosing of ribavirin, and the treatment of relapsers and nonresponders will provide valuable data that could be incorporated into future CEAs. Health care resources are vast, but not limitless. Therefore, health care providers need to become aware of how best to allocate resources to the general population. CEAs can facilitate this process by determining which treatment strategies are likely to yield the greatest clinical benefits without excessive expenditures.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2002/205482
spellingShingle Norah Terrault
Motion – The Available Treatments for Hepatits C Are Cost Effective: Arguments for the Motion
Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology
title Motion – The Available Treatments for Hepatits C Are Cost Effective: Arguments for the Motion
title_full Motion – The Available Treatments for Hepatits C Are Cost Effective: Arguments for the Motion
title_fullStr Motion – The Available Treatments for Hepatits C Are Cost Effective: Arguments for the Motion
title_full_unstemmed Motion – The Available Treatments for Hepatits C Are Cost Effective: Arguments for the Motion
title_short Motion – The Available Treatments for Hepatits C Are Cost Effective: Arguments for the Motion
title_sort motion the available treatments for hepatits c are cost effective arguments for the motion
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2002/205482
work_keys_str_mv AT norahterrault motiontheavailabletreatmentsforhepatitscarecosteffectiveargumentsforthemotion