Last year heralded the arrival of new, highly successful treatment regimens for HCV. But because of high retail costs, many providers have been struggling to balance the needs of patients with financial realities by limiting access to the medications. 

Introduction: David Tuller, academic coordinator, UC Berkeley MPH/MJ program.

Moderator: John Swartzberg, UC Berkeley School of Public Health faculty and editorial director of The Berkeley Wellness Letter and BerkeleyWellness.com 

Panelists:

Niema Jordan, MPH/MJ student and Kaiser Permanente Fellow, and the producer of a journalism masters documentary on the issue.

Shirley Barger, HCV patient and advocate, and a member of the San Francisco Hepatitis C Task Force.

David Gollaher, vice president of policy and public health, Gilead Sciences.

As part of a series of events sponsored by Kaiser Permanente and focused on health care costs and affordability in the age of health care reform, the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and School of Public Health present a panel discussion on the debate over the costs and availability of new medications for Hepatitis C. This event is open to all who wish to attend. It will be webcast live and posted afterwards for later viewing.

Additional support provided by the California Wellness Foundation and Berkeley Wellness.