NORTH COAST
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015
3A
HeSatitis C drXg Fosts FhaOOenge ForreFtions EXdget
By HILLARY BORRUD
Capital Bureau
Oregon faces budget-bust-
ing costs for expensive new
treatments for hepatitis C, and
the issue is not limited to the
state’s Medicaid program.
The prison system also
faces higher costs from a new
drug that cures many people
of the potentially deadly dis-
ease, but costs the Depart-
ment of Corrections roughly
$70,000 per inmate for the
12-week treatment. The Leg-
islature already approved an
additional $3.2 million in a
supplemental budget bill ear-
lier this year to cover the drug
Harvoni for inmates, after
the number of inmates treat-
ed rose sharply in December.
The increase was also part
of the reason the Legislature
boosted the Department of
Corrections’ latest two-year
budget for medical supplies
by nearly 32 percent .
At the same time, it re-
mains dif¿ cult for low-in-
come people insured under
the state’s Medicaid program,
the Oregon Health Plan, to get
approved for the newer hepa-
titis C drugs unless they have
reached the more advanced
stages of the disease.
Hepatitis C can eventually
cause liver failure and cancer.
The death rate from hepatitis
C in Oregon has been higher
than for HIV for more than a
decade, and an average of 441
people died from the virus
each year from 2009 to 2013,
according to an epidemio-
Courtesy of the state Department of Corrections
Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla. The Department of Corrections faces the challenge of paying for expen-
sive new treatments for hepatitis C. t
logical report released by the
Oregon Health Authority this
year. A majority were men
and people aged 45 to 64, and
blacks and Native Americans
were roughly twice as likely
to die from the virus.
Higher rate among
inmates
There is a higher preva-
lence of hepatitis C among
current and former inmates,
and in Oregon researchers
think that 30 percent of peo-
ple in state prisons might have
chronic hepatitis C infections,
according to the report. Al-
though many people were
infected through pre-1992
blood transfusions, research-
ers identi¿ ed injection drug
use as the most common route
of transmission for new hep-
atitis C infections in Oregon.
Nationally, young injection
drug users who get the virus
are white, live in rural areas
and initially got hooked on
prescription opiates.
Wendy Smith, profession-
al services administrator at
the Department of Correc-
tions, said the agency does
not have a speci¿ c budget for
Harvoni in the current two-
year budget. However, the
agency spends approximately
$1.2 million per month on its
pharmacy, Smith wrote in an
email.
A budget report by the
Legislative )iscal Of¿ ce ear-
lier this year said the average
number of inmates receiving
Harvoni rose from nine to 35
per month, which based on
the cost provided by the agen-
cy would translate to a month-
ly cost of approximately
$816,000 for Harvoni alone.
The treatment usually takes
12 weeks to complete.
µA signi¿ Fant Fost
driver’
In a statement, Steve Rob-
bins, the agency’s chief ¿ -
nancial of¿ cer, said medical
treatment “continues to be a
signi¿ cant cost driver´ for the
department. However, Rob-
bins added, “The agency is
c onstitutionally mandated to
provide medically necessary
care to a community standard,
without regard to treatment
cost. The use of Harvoni has
become community standard
as recommended by the Amer-
ican Association for the Study
of Liver Diseases (AASLD)
and Infectious Diseases Soci-
ety of America (IDSA).´ The
Eighth Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution prohibits cruel
and unusual punishment.
The agency’s last two-
year medical supply budget,
which is mostly medication,
started at $25.9 million and
was ultimately increased to
$30.4 million, in part because
of the hepatitis C drug costs,
Robbins wrote. The current
two-year medical supply bud-
get is $34.2 million. Robbins
wrote that more inmates are
also choosing the treatment
because it does not have some
of the side effects of earlier
treatments.
Without discounts, Harvoni
can cost as much as $94,500
for a 12-week treatment, ac-
cording to published news
reports. Although the Depart-
ment of Corrections is part of
a large pharmaceutical buying
consortium, it still appears to
be paying more than the price
at which drug manufacturer
Gilead Sciences reportedly of-
fered to sell the drug to Medic-
aid patients in Oregon.
A year ago, The Oregonian
reported Gilead representa-
tives said they offered the drug
to Oregon at a price close to
what Canada paid, $55,000 for
the 12-week treatment.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
Gearhart drug dealer sentenced to probation
By KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
A Gearhart drug dealer was
sentenced to three years proba-
tion last week after admitting to
selling methamphetamine near
Gearhart Elementary School.
Leonard Shane Hitchman
will face 80 months, or nearly
seven years, in prison, if he vi-
olates the probation.
Hitchman, 45, appeared in
Clatsop County Circuit Court
Friday to change his plea,
which canceled a trial sched-
uled for today . He pleaded no
contest to unlawful possession
of methamphetamine and un-
lawful delivery of metham-
phetamine within 1,000 feet of
a school.
The meth possession charge
was elevated to a commercial
drug offense since Hitchman
possessed more the $300, drug
records and packaging materi-
als.
Clatsop County Sheriff’s
Of¿ ce arrested Hitchman in
February after a Clatsop Coun-
ty Drug Task Force investiga-
tion.
Drug t ask f orce detectives
received numerous complaints
over several months regarding
ongoing illegal drug activity at
166 Ridge Drive in Gearhart,
according to the sheriff’s of-
¿ ce.
Detectives were granted
search warrants for Hitchman’s
residence and his vehicle.
During the search, detec-
tives discovered metham-
South coast of Washington
reopens to recreational crabbing
EO Media Group
OLYMPIA — The rec-
reational Dungeness crab
¿ shery along the southern
Washington coast will re-
open effective immediately,
state shell¿ sh managers an-
nounced Friday .
With this action, the entire
Washington coast is open for
sport crabbing after elevated
levels of domoic acid forced
the Washington Department
of Fish and Wildlife to close
the crab ¿ sheries this sum-
mer.
The state opened the north-
ern coast in late August, when
toxin levels there dropped
to safe levels. Marine toxin
levels have continued to de-
cline on the southern coast
over the last month, said Dan
Ayres, WDFW coastal shell-
¿ sh manager. Recent tests by
the Washington Department
of Health show crabs on the
southern coast — from Point
Chehalis south to the Colum-
bia River — are also safe to
eat.
Domoic acid, a natural
toxin produced by certain
types of marine algae, can be
harmful or even fatal if con-
sumed in suf¿ cient quantities.
Cooking or freezing does not
destroy domoic acid in shell-
¿ sh.
As usual, the use of crab
pots is prohibited on the coast
through Nov. 30, except in
the Columbia River estuary,
where pots are allowed year-
round, Ayres said. Elsewhere
along the coast, crabbers can
use other gear, such as ring
nets.
The Department of Health
will continue to test shell¿ sh
in all coastal marine waters.
Harvesters should check for
closures on DOH’s shell¿ sh
safety webpage at https://
fortress.wa.gov/doh/eh/maps/
biotoxin/biotoxin.html.
More information about
domoic acid can be found on
WDFW’s webpage at http://
wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shell-
¿ sh/razorclams/domoicBacid.
html.
phetamine, drug traf¿ cking
records, needles, scales and
packaging materials common-
ly used by illegal drug traf¿ ck-
ers.
In addition, detectives
found more than $1,500 in
cash and a weapon.
The charges against Hitch-
man occurred in December
and in February.
“When they served the
search warrant, he had a lot
of money in his safe at this
home,´ P rosecutor Dawn Buz-
zard said. “He had little bag-
gies of drugs and he sold them
to an undercover informant.´
Hitchman’s defense was
that he won most of the cash in
a lottery, and that he was just
giving a ride to a woman who
he was selling meth to.
Buzzard said she was es-
pecially concerned since this
activity was happening close
to the elementary school.
“Kids go play in the play-
ground right there. It should be
a safe place,´ she said.
Leonard Shane Hitchman
Clatsop
Commmunity
College
chan g ed
this Astoria
ma n’ s life
Westport nursing assistant surrenders certi¿ cate
The Daily Astorian
Susan Ann Blazor, of
Westport, voluntarily surren-
dered her nursing assistant
Ferti¿ Fate for failing to fol-
low a care plan, which result-
ed in an injury of a resident.
The Oregon State Board
of Nursing accepted Blazor’s
voluntary request earlier this
month.
Blazor was issued her
Visit us
online
at
nursing assistant certi¿ cate
by the state board in June
2014.
In May , the board received
information that Blazor was
neglectful and failed to fol-
low a care plan developed by
a registered nurse, resulting
in the injury of a resident. The
board did not release where
the incident took place.
The board had the right to
revoke or suspend Blazor’s
license since her conduct
was unbecoming to a nurs-
ing assistant in the perfor-
mance of duties. She coop-
erated with the board and
voluntarily surrendered her
certificate.
If, after a minimum of
three years, Blazor wishes to
reinstate her certi¿ cate, she
can submit an application to
the board to request reinstate-
ment.
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N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A
Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500
G u ess w h a t d a y it is!
It’s Hump’s Day!!!
www.
DailyAstorian.
com
No reservations, please
AT HUMP’S RESTAURANT
EV ERY W ED N ESD AY 5 -8 PM
14 OUN CE N EW Y ORK
STEAK & BAK ED POTATO
$9.95
M ust present coupon to server.
N ot va lid w ith other offers.
All You Can Eat Chicken & Dumplings- Thursdays 5-8 pm $6.95
Prime Rib Fridays- starts at 5pm $9.95
You
Tube
Just 15 m in. from the Lew is & Cla rk Bridge on H w y. 30
Hump’s Restaurant- 50 W. Columbia River Highway
Clatskanie, OR. 503.728.2626
In the Great Recession,
Chris Gustafson was out
of work. He enrolled in
Clatsop’s six-year-old program
in Historic Restoration
and Preservation.
Today he operates his own
window restoration business .
Clatsop Community College is an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution. ADA accessible.
N OW O PEN
Frida y & Sa turda y
6a m -10pm
Video
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