Recent study reveals a significant decline in hepatitis C antiviral prescriptions since 2015, risking progress toward disease elimination and highlighting the need for improved access and outreach.
The researchers investigated prescribing records from 2013-2025. They unveiled that direct-acting antiviral prescribing has “fallen sharply in recent years,” after peaking in 2015. The drugs were first released in 2013 and have the ability to cure most patients of their disease. As of 2025, less than 40% of HCV patients in the U.S. are receiving direct-acting antivirals in their first year of diagnosis.
This could interfere with the country’s elimination status goals, the researchers emphasized. They suggest improving screening and same-day treatment access, with more “telehealth and mobile outreach and financing reforms such as proposed in the Cure Hepatitis C Act of 2025.”
