Hep C Support Group

On 10-20-10
I went to see a Hepatologist / Gastroenteroligist for a checkup & hopefully some advise on my Hepatitis C. It was a total waste of my time & money. I had made an appointment three weeks in advance for 2:00pm — 10-20-10 & I finally left at 4:30pm. I was there for 2 &1/2 hours. I was seen by his female P.A. not him. I ask her questions & she ask me some & then she called another female in as a witness I suppose & did a rectal exam supposedly to look for blood. She said she found none but then again she was looking for stool & if you get none you have nothing to test. He finally came in the room after I sat in there alone for a long time & ask me if I had any questions. Well let's see I made an appointment with you not your P.A. so YES I have questions WHY do you think I came ? He seemed more concerned about letting me know that he was no longer going to accept Blue Cross insurance after 11-3-10 because his complete group of doctors were dropping Blue Cross because they were cutting what they pay the Dr's by 30%. My wife & I pay $750.00 a month for coverage & this is what you get from the doctors Blue Cross offers you to choose from? I tried asking him about treatment & options & their odds of success & he was talking about the protease inhibitors that would be out in a year or so & that I should wait for those since I am male & 57 & geno type 1A. All things that reduce your chances of treatment working. Basically he was just reading me back the information I had given him telling him the odds & acting like he was telling me something new that I did not already know. He said the new stuff when it came out would have about a 60% success rate. I ask him who the drug company was & what was the name of the drug he was talking about. He said he did not know the name he thought it was by Schering Plough. That is the company that has paid doctors $2,000.00 per patient to treat in the past with their poison in the past & it is widely known about. Read here:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060830/news_1b30schering.html
I ask him about a drug that has been through several trials & that has had great results as high as 88% success even in people that did not respond to the standard Schering Plough treatment that is available & widely used & that I know someone that was in the very first trial about 4 years ago & was almost instantly Hepatitis C free & three years later he still is. He said he did not know ? He is a Hepatologist / Gastroenterologist working at a liver wing of a major Dallas Tx hospital & he does ( NOT ) know about ( Vertex Pharmaceuticals ) experimental drug Telaprevir
http://vrtx.com/
formerly known as VX-950 that has been know about & in trials with great results for years now ? That's inexcusable & this Dr. is a BAD JOKE! A year ago in November 2009 they were talking to doctors about it being 80% successful. Read here:
http://www.boston.com/business/healthcare/articles/2009/11/02/vertex_pitches_hepatitis_drug_to_key_doctors/
A new study with Telaprevir is starting in November 2010. Read here: (DON'T MISS THIS )
http://investors.vrtx.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=522614
It is ( NOT ) posted on the Clinical Trials .Gov website yet ?
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/
I talked to Vertex the drug ( Telaprevir ) maker & they said just keep checking back at the http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ website for details. If it starts in November it will fill up quick.
This trial is taking anyone & it does not matter if you have treated before or not & EVERYONE will get the Telaprevir not just one of 3 groups. Most studies there are 3 groups in the studies & you don't know which group of the 3 you are in until it is over. Usually only one of the three groups gets the Telaprevir.
Six days after going to the doctor I found out about this ? He knew NOTHING ?
Thank God for the internet as we "ALL" with this disease KNOW it is the BEST source for HONEST - NON BIASED information we have.