Had my annual appointment at Manchester Royal yesterday. The consultant who saw me was Dr Prince, who has been very anti-generics, flatly refusing to monitor any patients on them.
So, he opened up with a general remark about them monitoring my hepatitis c, and I replied that there had been some significant movement forward on this. I suggested that he might be aware of the fact, and his clinic certainly would, that I'd done a course of generic DAA's. He replied:
"You're the gentleman who was going to try to obtain his medicine privately, aren't you?"
Me: "Yes. I got them through a guy involved with Dr Freeman, who made the major generics presentation at last week's EASL conference."
Him (giving the game away, because I've not yet told him which DAA's I took
): " We have to prioritize our sickest patients with the new medicines because they are so expensive. How much did you pay for your generic Sovaldi and Daklinza? This is the most expensive treatment for us."
Me: "About £800."
He smiles and turns to the three medical students who are observing, smiling some more. The three medical students all look suitably surprised.
Him: "So, where are you up to with this?"
Me: " I achieved SVR12 in Febuary, so I'm now waiting for a 24 week test."
Him: "Then you're cured! Do you have your test result?"
I show him my Medichecks result on a PDF on my phone, and tell him it was done at The Doctors Lab.
Him: "Ah yes, TDL. They're an excellent facility. Most private medical services in the UK use them. Their assay is exactly the same as ours here. Congratulations, you're cured."
Shakes my hand and smiles broadly.
Me: "I'd still like to do a 24 week test for my own peace of mind."
Him: "There are only two cases that I know of in the whole world of relapse between 12 and 24 weeks post treatment on the new DAA's. But we'll do the test for you. Is it due?"
Me: "I'm at about 20 weeks post-treatment."
Him: "20 Weeks is as good as 24 weeks. Please get it done today. Going forward, with your lack of liver scarring, you now stand the same chance of having a healthy liver for the rest of your life as someone who has never had hepatitis c. But you have to worry about getting a fatty liver due to being overweight."
Me: "Thanks, I'm addressing it. I'm on a diet."
Him: "All the best."
Me: "Thank you. You should contact Dr Freeman for a chat."
Him (being a little facetious, I'm sure): "Dr Freeman, the paediatric consultant?"
Me: "Dr James Freeman, the Australian Doctor who made the generics presentation at EASL."
Him: "Ah, they have different laws over there."
Me: "They get generic meds to people all over the world."
Him: "We can't supply generic meds."
Me: "They dont supply, they just facilitate. The patient buys and imports the meds."
Him: "Yes, I know. I'm familiar with the setup."
Offers hand to shake again, with a broad smile (in other words: 'You can fuck off now.'
)
I expect the moon to turn into a balloon before Manchester Royal's Hepatology Dept become proactive with generics. But if the consultants here are genuinely more interested in getting patients cured than being whores for gilead, they will at the very least issue prescriptions and provide monitoring for patients on generics. They
know that the generics work.
): " We have to prioritize our sickest patients with the new medicines because they are so expensive. How much did you pay for your generic Sovaldi and Daklinza? This is the most expensive treatment for us."