Why Aren’t More Users Of Opioids Or Meth Screened For Hepatitis C?

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December 19th, 2018

The initial test for hepatitis C is an inexpensive blood test to check for antibodies that indicate the person’s been exposed to the virus. If that antibody test is positive, a second test is done to see if the virus is circulating in the bloodstream — a sign there’s an infection that needs treatme

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When people seek help at a drug treatment center for an opioid addiction, concerns about having contracted hepatitis C are generally low on their list.

They’ve often reached a crisis point in their lives, says Marie Sutton, the CEO of Imagine Hope, a consulting group that provides staff training and technical assistance to facilitate testing for the liver-damaging virus at more than 30 drug treatment centers in Georgia.

“They just want to handle [their drug problem],” Sutton says. “Sometimes they don’t have the bandwidth to take on too many other things.”

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