Hepatitis C Testing Legislation Advances

New York could be the first state to require health care providers to offer Hepatitis C screening to people born between 1945 and 1965. The bill sponsored by Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski (D-New City) passed the New York State Assembly on Tuesday.  

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends those born between 1945 and 1965 get a one time Hepatitis C test. The CDC estimates that one out of every 30 baby boomers or between 3.5 and 5.3 million people have Hepatitis C and up to 75 percent of them do not realize they are infected because they do not have any symptoms. The CDC estimates that 800,000 new cases of Hepatitis C could be diagnosed by the test and lives could be saved with improved medicine and available new treatments.

Assemblyman Zebrowski's father contracted the disease in 1973 from blood transfusions during an operation but he was not diagnosed with Hepatitis C until 1996. 

Prior to 1992 donated blood was not tested for Hepatitis C and often people who had blood transfusions or organ donations were infected. Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and is spread through contact with infected blood. In 2007, deaths resulting from Hepatitis C complications numbered 15,000 and exceeded the 12,700 deaths resulting from complications of HIV.  

The potential to save lives through this bill is enormous and we must act now before it becomes too late," said Zebrowski. "The more baby boomers we can get tested, the more people can get life saving treatment before the disease progresses and is untreatable.”