STAT: Generic hepatitis C meds really are very cost effective, study says

May 18, 2017

For the past three years, various governments and patient advocacy groups have clamored for lower-cost hepatitis C medicines, given the high cure rate for these pricey new drugs. Now, a new study finds that upfront treatment with cheaper generic versions can offer a substantial payback.

“We assumed [generics] would be cost effective, given their high cure rates, but we wanted to know how quickly they saved costs,” said Jagpreet Chhatwal, a scientist at the Institute for Technology Assessment at Massachusetts General Hospital and one of the co-authors. “The results are not...

Economic Times: How beneficial are generic hepatitis C drugs available in India?

May 18, 2017

New York: Use of the generic versions of directly-acting antiviral (DAA) drugs that are available in India to treat...

Boston's NPR: WBUR Interview on Rising Cost of Cancer Treatment

February 21, 2017

Dr. Jagpreet Chhatwal, at Massachusetts General Hospital, calculates that the new, more effective therapy will cause the overall cost of treating patients with that leukemia to balloon by nearly six times. That's due to both the cost of the new drug and the growing number of patients who will live longer and thus will need continuous treatment.

Boston's NPR Interview: As Cancer Drugs' Prices Skyrocket, Experts Worry About Burden On Patients, Health Systems

January 30, 2017

WBUR examined fast-moving changes in cancer research and treatment in a series we're calling, "This Moment In Cancer."

Leaders in cancer research say the field has reached a pivotal moment, including the discovery of new...

NPR Marketplace Interview: Cutting prison hepatitis C rates: costly, but worth it?

May 4, 2016

Dr. Jagpreet Chhatwal, assistant professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School, has studied the economics of treating hepatitis C in prisons and said that while the drugs are expensive, liver transplants and treatment for patients with hepatitis C in its later stages are also costly.

He said treating the disease in prison is worth it in the long run because cutting the number of infected people in prison has a dramatic impact on the number of people living with the disease society wide. That’s...

STAT: Prisons can lock up savings by treating inmates with hepatitis C

December 3, 2015

The high cost of hepatitis C drugs may be straining budgets nationwide, but the country can save money if prison inmates are screened and treated for the disease, according to a new study. “The problem is that not enough prisoners are getting treated because the drugs do cost a lot,” said Jagpreet Chhatwal, a study co-author and health economist at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Institute for Technology Assessment. “Meanwhile, this is a population where many have used drugs, shared needles, and infected others. If prison budgets can afford [the drugs], there could be long-term...

NPR Interview: Treating Prisoners With Hepatitis C May Be Worth The Hefty Price

November 23, 2015

Interview with NPR for the study published in Annals of Internal Medicine on screening and treatment of hepatitis C virus in United States prisons [link].

VIDEO: U.S. hepatitis C treatment capacity falls short of need

November 19, 2015

Interview at the 2015 AASLD Liver Meeting regarding a study on the changing burden of hepatitis C in the United States.

Interview link

Forbes Interview: Critical Reports Mount On Hepatitis C Pill Costs

March 17, 2015

Interview with Forbes on the cost-effectiveness and budget-impact of new hepatitis C treatments that was published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Wall Street Journal Interview: Hepatitis C Drugs are Cost Effective, but Affordability is Another Matter

March 17, 2015

An interview with the Wall Street Journal on research on the cost-effectiveness and budget-impact of hepatitis C treatment with new antiviral therapies. The study was published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Jagpreet Chhatwal, PhD

Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School

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