Hepatitis C is a silent epidemic in the United States, but this small clinic proves that it should not be
Although it has been more than a decade since healing drugs that change the situation to Hepatitis 100 have been approved, progress has been slow and treatment remains out of reach for many. But a small clinic in Buffalo, New York, proves that this should not be the case.
Hepatitis C is a silent epidemic in the United States, affecting up to 4 million people, according to centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many people don’t know they have it. Left untreated, the disease can cause cirrhosis and liver cancer.
With a faster, more accessible and remarkably effective model, the Bodega, a clinic of the County Medical Center of Erie, heals patients at an amazing pace.
One of these patients is Lindsey Groffenberg, who left medication and was healed from hep C in the Bodega.
“When you get out of dependence and try to recover, the last thing you want is to feel small,” she told CBS News. “When I entered the Bodega, I asked them:” So when will the doctor enter? “And he said,” I’m the doctor. “
This doctor was Dr. Tony Martinez.
“One of our currencies is” Ve one, Come All “, told CBS News. “It is a very sure space and without stigma, you know, I think people think it when they come here.”
Groffenberg now helps others navigate recovery. Histories of success like his have made the clinic a model program.
Bodega obtains HEP C patients under treatment in a single visit and has hardening experience of around 98% of its 7,000 and more patients. The new testing machines approved by the FDA help to speed up the treatment.
The test machines, explained Martinez, allow them to see a patient and, in this same visit, confirm their diagnosis and initiate their drugs.
As the costs of drugs have dropped, access should have improved, but so far, less than a third of Americans with hepatitis C have been treated.
Success stories like Bodega have political decision -makers looking for a national plan to eliminate hepatitis C. in Washington, a bipartite bill supported by Senators Bill Cassidy and Chris Van Hollen would invest federal funds in the wiping of the disease.
The average patient with HEP C can accumulate up to $ 46,000 per year in medical costs. Treating patients early could allow the government to allow the government of $ 7 billion over a decade.
“This is a monumental step for anyone at hep c – they would have access to drugs”, Martinez.
