Government Faces Fast-Increasing Costs of Treating Military Veterans With Hepatitis C

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By Scott MacFarlane

The cost to taxpayers of treating Washington, D.C.-area military veterans suffering from hepatitis C has eclipsed $64 million per year, according to a review of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs records by the News4 I-Team.

The fast-rising cost is attributed to a cutting-edge but expensive medication the agency began dispensing last year to veterans in Virginia, Maryland, D.C. and West Virginia.

The new hepatitis C drugs, which are known as Sovaldi and Harvoni, are highly effective and less likely to cause side effects in patients, doctors and government officials said. Multiple reports estimate a full treatment of the medication costs tens of thousands of dollars per patient. Each individual pill costs an estimated $1,000, according to a report from a U.S. Senate panel.

Agency records obtained by the I-Team from regional administrators of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs show 701 patients received the treatment at the Washington DC VA Medical Center in 2015. Those records show hire vetsmore than 200 patients were administered the medications at the Martinsburg VA Medical Center and more than 480 patients at Maryland’s VA medical system last year. In all, the cost of treatment exceeded $64 million, which is a $50 million increase from the cost of Hepatitis C treatment in 2014.

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