New meds available?

[brendaelk65]

I have not treated yet for my hep c but would love to get rid of this demon. I have fibro and arthritis that kicks my butt sometimes. My question is does anyone know when the new meds will be available for our docs to prescribe? Is it only for special conditions? I have never treated and am 58 yrs old. I have been putting it off waiting for the tx that is shorter. I had a biopsy several years back and was F1-F2 and have had good blood tests so far.

[streamline569]

I didn't have luck today I was turned down for all three drugs and I have insurance. Tomorrow will see what my doctors office is going to do about it. So far they have ignored Vertex's calls and faxes, why I don't know, when I told  my doctor today that they have contacted his office, he was clueless. This does not seem to be going to be easy for some of us. I guess it will depend on the insurance carrier and the doctor we are using,
Totally upset today with the way things went, Hopefully my doctors office will have help for me today.

[Aaron57]

IMO , better to wait until your doctor gets training .. or find an already experienced Doc who has experience with the new meds ... There are not many yet as these drugs have just been FDA approved .

This is a new treatment , Tx protocol will be a bit different than Inf/Riba .. There are concern's of developing a mutant strain of HCV for some folks .... If you want to read more about concerns and possible reasoning for their decision's perhaps the following thread might help .. clinical trial results , treatment protocols, stopping decisions , mutation concerns..

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/-Telaprevir---Boceprevir-trial-results--much-more/show/1526564

[coeric]

the drugs are ready to go.  the problem is finding docs that have the resources to tx.  i went to my GI on monday and although it is a big practice with about dozen GI docs they are unwilling to write an script until they know more about the tx.  they have not received any training from the drug reps yet. the doc said it might take a month are two before they can start treating. i put a call in to a nearby teaching hospital to try to get an appt. with a liver doc, but have not heard back yet.  

[spectda]

If you live in the US your doc should be able to write a script right away, I don't know about other countries. The red tape would depend on your insurance company and your doc's recommendation I suppose.

One of our member's already got a script for victrelis (boceprevir), was approved by his insurance, and had the prescription filled.

-Dave

[brendaelk65]

I understand that, I am wondering if my doc can just write the script for them or if it is some red tape or conditions on treating with it right away?

[spectda]

The new meeds (boceprevir and telaprevir) are available now for treatment of genotype 1 in conjunction with interferon and ribavirin.

Welcome to the forum,
-Dave