Loading...
Although intravenous drug use fuels the hepatitis C epidemic, physicians often are reluctant to offer treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection to patients who use drugs. The concern is that poor medication adherence might interfere with HCV treatment response and possibly lead to untreatable drug-resistant infections.
Between 2013 and 2017, researchers randomized 150 HCV-positive people who attended Bronx, New York, outpatient opioid-agonist treatment clinics to three HCV treatment groups: directly observed therapy administered with their methadone or buprenorphine (DOT group), intensive peer support via weekly group meetings in the clinic (GT group), or usual care (controls). All patients had HCV type 1 infections, and about half had…