Treatment Options

Interferon and Ribavirin

About 15% of people with hepatitis C are able to fight off the infection without treatment. The rest likely will need some form of therapy to regain their health. How much hepatitis C virus you have in your blood affects whether or not treatment will help you. You may want to watch our video "Getting Treated for Hepatitis C".

In most instances, it is important to begin treatment immediately.

The current treatment recommended by the National Institutes of Health is pegylated alpha interferons in combination with the antiviral drug ribavirin.

• Alpha Interferons are proteins made by your body to boost your immune system. You may want to watch our video "About Alpha Interferons".
• Pegylated Alpha Interferons are made by attaching a large water-soluble molecule (called polyethylene glycol) to the alpha interferon molecule. These new molecules stay in the body longer and have shown to be effective in treating chronic hepatitis C. Interferon can slow chronic hepatitis C by reducing the amount of virus in your body and slowing the damage to your liver. You may want to watch our video "About Pegylated Alpha Interferons".
• Ribavirin is an antiviral drug that, when combined with pegylated alpha interferons, has shown to be effective against chronic hepatitis C.

Get more information on how hepatitis C is treated.

PEG-INTRON® (Peginterferon alfa-2b) Powder for Injection therapy has been proven to be more effective than standard non-pegylated interferon in treating chronic hepatitis C. That means PEG-INTRON® provides you a better chance of clearing the virus from your body. Get more information about PEG-INTRON®.

Treatment is Not for Everyone. Not everyone benefits from interferon therapy. If you have chronic hepatitis but no sign of liver damage, it may not be necessary to treat. Alternatively, if the hepatitis C virus has already seriously damaged your liver, drug treatment may be out of the question. In this case, the treatment can make you sicker without helping to cure the disease. Your doctor will help you make a choice about treatment and its associated side effects.

Finding More Information

Before beginning treatment—and throughout the course of treatment—you will have questions. Your health care provider should always be your primary source of information about your condition and treatment.

In addition, The Be In Charge® Program, a free service sponsored by Schering Corporation, provides support and information to chronic hepatitis C patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by telephone. Trained Nurse Counselors can answer your questions, provide encouragement, and supply you with ongoing educational materials to help you maintain a healthy lifestyle. Get more information about Be In Charge.

Treatment Can be Expensive, Let Us Help. As you probably realize, effectively treating any illness can be expensive. To help you address this issue, Schering has developed COMMITMENT TO CARE®, designed to aid eligible patients in receiving therapy with Schering products by exploring reimbursement options. This is available to all eligible patients. COMMITMENT TO CARE® has assisted over 6,000 patients since 1995 by providing reimbursement assistance to eligible patients with:

• Researching sources of reimbursement
• Financial assistance (in the form of an indigent drug program) if reimbursement assistance cannot be found
• Verifying your insurance coverage
• Acquiring pre-authorization or pre-certification for therapy from your insurance company
• Assistance with appealing your insurance company if coverage is denied
• Reviewing Medicare and Medicaid benefits and regulations to ensure you have accurate and updated coverage information
• Referring you to state and local assistance programs

You can turn to Be In Charge for a vast amount of additional information and support as you manage your hepatitis C treatment. Sign up now for this tremendous support tool.