Although hepatitis C is largely thought to affect mostly intravenous drug users, more doctors are now recommending Baby Boomers get tested for the potentially fatal liver virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say hepatitis C is responsible for the deaths of 16,600 deaths in 2010 and affects about 3.2 million in the United States, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Additionally, more than 75% of adults infected are Baby Boomers.
Boomers are more likely to suffer from the disease than other segments of the population, partly because of their high rates of experimental drug use in the ‘60s and ‘70s and lax oversight given to the blood supply used in transfusions before 1992.
New York became the first state in October to enact a law requiring that boomers – generally defined as those born between 1945 and 1965 – be offered hepatitis C screening when they see a doctor, or enter a hospital or clinic. The new law will take effect Jan. 1, 2014.
American College of Physicians President Molly Cooke told the journal that she’s not against the new law but “…every time I see patients, I feel the pressure of this list of things we’re supposed to do.”
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