Nobel Prize for Medicine awarded to Hepatitis C discovery

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology has been won by three scientists who have discovered the Hepatitis C virus, British scientist Michael Houghton and US researchers Charles Rice and Harvey Alter.

Hepatitis C is a common cause of liver cancer and a major reason for liver transplants. In the 1960s there was significant concern that patients receiving donated blood were contracting chronic hepatitis from an unknown disease.

The Nobel Prize committee said that a blood transfusion at the time was like “Russian roulette”.

Now, highly sensitive blood tests mean such cases have been eradicated in many parts of the world, and in addition effective anti-viral drugs have also been developed.

The prize committee said “For the first time in history, the disease can now be cured, raising hopes of eradicating Hepatitis C virus from the world.”

In response to the announcement, Dr Claire Bayntun, vice-president of the Royal Society of Medicine and clinical consultant in global public health, said the discovery was an “extraordinary achievement.”

She added “In unlocking the door to the development of effective treatment and screening of blood transfusions, and protecting populations in many regions of the world, millions of lives have been saved.”

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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