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Suggest Treatment For Cirrhosis, Crohn's Disease And Bipolar Disease

Posted on Thu, 29 Jan 2015

Question: hi. my husband has hep c with cirosis/////his doc is going to put him on a med called euro pak..... the harvoni is no longer offered by the ins. co. does this " euro pak" contain. interferon? he could not tolerate that...he also has crohns disease and bi polar disease... is this the right treatment? appreciate your aNSER... THANK YOU. XXXXXXX

Answered by Dr. Kunjan H Shah (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
it is not wise to start interferons if there is history of reaction with it

Detailed Answer:
welcome
i understood your query

Treatment of cirrhosis is designed to prevent further damage to the liver,and to treat complications of cirrhosis.

yes , europak contains interferons.

it is better not to start the same drug again as your husband had history of reaction with the same drug. you can give the history to your doctor. and you can also discuss other treatment option other than euro pak for your husband.

hope you are satisfied
thanks
dr kunjan h shah

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj

Follow up: Dr. Kunjan H Shah (31 minutes later)

thank you so much for that information... what exactly would you suggest as treatment in this situation? would Harvoni have been appropriate if it were available by the ins. co? I am very upset now. what alternative does he have now that the Euro pak is not for him? thanks. XXXXXXX

hello,again.... is there another name for Euro pak. it does not come up online when entered... we get a medication named Suvaldi. do you know anything about this one? it says it is available with or without interferon. can you advise on this? we are hoping to discuss the Euro pak with my husband's liver dr. again... is there a difference with taking the euro pak containing interferon in pill form? it is 3 pills a day. does it go through the system differently than the interferon injections? just hoping maybe the euro pak would be ok... since it is a pill not injection... please reply... XXXXXXX

Answered by Dr. Kunjan H Shah (9 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Harvoni is very effective and contains suvaldi. europak is newer option.

Detailed Answer:
Welcome

I understood your concern

On October 10, 2014 -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first combination pill for people with chronic hepatitis C. In clinical trials, Harvoni cured 90% to 100% of participants, and successfully treated many people.

The FDA-approved duration of Harvoni treatment is 12 weeks for previously untreated people with or without liver cirrhosis. For people who have cirrhosis and did not respond to previous treatment, the FDA prescribing information recommends taking Harvoni for 24 weeks. The overall response rate in the recent studies combined was 97%.
So yes harvoni is better if made available by Ins. Company.

harvoni itself contains suvaldi. SOVALDI (sofosbuvir) is a prescription medicine used with other antiviral medicines to treat chronic (lasting a long time) hepatitis C (Hep C) infection.

europak is a newer option for your husband but the clinical trials are limited. if your doctor has advised you, then he might have noticed excellent effect with it.
Yes pill is better than injection but if you take it in pill form, then efficacy of drug is affected. The system of its metabolism is affected by its route of delivery.
You can discuss this treatment option with your doctor.

Hope you are satisfied

Thanks
dr kunjan h shah

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Bhagyalaxmi Nalaparaju