New treatments for hepatitis C have been found to be effective, but expensive. A new report has found that these new drugs account for a 13.1 percent increase in U.S. prescription drug spending in 2014, according to a Medscape report.
Spending on hepatitis C treatments, including options from Gilead Sciences and AbbVie, increased 734 percent from 2013 to 2014.
Spending on specialty drugs, including treatments for conditions such as HCV, cancer and multiple sclerosis, accounted for 31 percent of drug spending last year, according to the report.