Drug Treatments

Intron A, PEG Intron and Ribavirin have severe side effects and are expensive, a typical 48 weeks combo treatment regimen with Intron A and Ribavirin can cost up to $20,000. Treatment with Interferon Alpha leads to sustained viral clearance in only about 15% of patients, even though the pharmaceutical industry publishes an effective rate of 40%; the other treatments are even lower. With these odds, and being that these are the only drugs that your doctor can prescribe, you are not likely to be cured with these treatment.

The greatest percentage of the individuals are quick to get into the drug treatment programs, (because they are convinced it is the only option) see their viral loads lowered for a short time, only to come right back up again after a few months. Often the virus mutates and returns as a quasispecies and is even less likely to be treatable than the previous versions. If the benefits of the drug

therapy were ever "offset" against all the damage caused, it is our position that most individuals would not consider it as an option of treatment at all. An already stressed body is even more stressed and the condition often worsens after that treatment fails. We don't feel many people are aware of the serious side effects but rather made to feel it is their only hope in order to survive the disease. That, we feel, is false information and false hope!