Doctor diagnosed with Hepatitis C mortgages home to pay for drugs

He was being treated with Ribavarin for a few weeks, but it had many side-effects. Dr Arya was then prescribed two new anti-viral compounds, sofosbuvir and simeprevir, which were being used in the US to treat the virus.

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From July to September, Dr Arya wrote to then union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and the state’s Directorate of Health Services (DHS) for the drugs to be procured under the Delhi Government Employees Health Scheme (DGEHS).

Dr Vardhan’s personal assistant forwarded the request to the DHS for consideration, but it was eventually turned down by the Delhi government on September 26.

“When my request was turned down, I had to mortgage my home, generate funds on social media and reach out to my family. I then got in touch with a distributor from Mumbai to get the drugs from abroad. Procuring the drug has been a nightmare — one that still continues even though I am infection-free,” he said.

According to experts at ILBS, the drugs were cleared by the Drug Control General of India (DCGI) just a couple of months after the doctor’s treatment and are since being manufactured by Indian companies at 0.5 per cent of the cost of US-based companies.

ILBS director Dr S K Sarin, who treated Dr Arya, said there are thousands of patients like him. “The drugs were cleared by the Indian regulatory authorities late last year. Before that, thousands of patients like Dr Arya struggled to get the treatment. We are thankful that the drugs have been cleared now,” Dr Sarin said.
Dr Arya, who tested free from the virus last month, again applied to the DGEHS for reimbursement of his treatment expenses. He says if his request is turned down this time, he will go to court.

“The infection is gone but its impact on the liver remains. My house remains mortgaged for 30 years. If the government could not pay for my treatment, at least they can pay the mortgage amount — especially because the drugs have now been cleared by DCGI. If the government refuses, I will seek legal recourse,” Dr Arya said.

Meanwhile, parliamentary health secretary Rajesh Gupta told The Indian Express, “Since these are imported drugs which were not cleared for treatment by drug regulatory authorities under the Centre, the Delhi government could not do not anything…. We request him to get a second opinion from any other hospital. If there is any Indian equivalent drug, the government can procure it for him. “