SCOTLAND APPROVES HEPATITIS B DRUG

A new treatment for hepatitis B has been approved for patients in Scotland ahead of the rest of the UK, it has been revealed. Pegasys (pegainterferon alfa-2a) has been shown to achieve lasting remission in almost a third of patients with chronic hepatitis B infection. The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC), which vets new NHS treatments in Scotland, issued guidelines recommending that all patients with the disease should have the drug. The SMC is the Scottish equivalent of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence which does the same job in England and Wales.

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