title: HCV: the best cure possible or the best possible cure?
abstract: Progress in medicine goes along with an exponential growth of the cost of drugs and devices. While any person has the right to obtain the best possible benefit from medical care, a state needs to strike a balance between granting the optimal personal benefit to each individual and the needs of the society as a whole. Health systems in all countries therefore are facing a huge problem of distributive justice, as while they should guarantee individual rights, among which the right to health in its broader sense, including physical, psychological and social well-being (therefore not limited to healing, but extending to compliance and quality of life), they must also grant equal access to the healthcare resources and keep the distribution system sustainable.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioethics, 'A. Gemelli' School of Medicine, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Craxì
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Gastroenterologia & Epatologia, Di.Bi.M.I.S., University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cammà
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Gastroenterologia & Epatologia, Di.Bi.M.I.S., University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Craxì
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents
keywords: Direct acting antivirals; Ethics; Hepatitis C virus