Abuse of Hepatic Medicine

China is home to 100 million people who are infected with chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C and seven million patients suffering from liver cirrhosis, with 460,000 people receiving a diagnosis of liver cancer annually. As the country with the largest number of people suffering from liver diseases, patients are prescribed medications with a value of 10 billion yuan (US$1.45b) each year to protect their livers in addition to receiving routine treatments. They take these supplementary treatments either to prevent side-effects of other medicines or when their livers are damaged due to other conditions, particularly tuberculosis. Since being added to China’s insurance reimbursement list, these supplementary “protective” liver treatments have been significantly overused. They consume medical resources and funds and can also cause irreversible harm to patients. Experts warned that no protective medication for the liver has proved effective, and that these medicines should be categorized as ancillary medicines to help treat hepatitis.