More on the memorial show honoring musician Russ Johnson in Gainesville, FL

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100715/COLUMNISTS/7151004?Title=Show-pays-tribute-to-Russell-Johnson#

Russell Johnson II Memorial Show – Gainesville, FL,

Saturday, July 17, 2010, 9 p.m.

The Livery at Palomino

232 SE First Street

Gainesville, FL

Russ Johnson, who played with several Gainesville, Florida bands – most notably, the Doldrums, died April 22.  He suffered from hepatitis C  for over 31 years.  His friends and fellow musicians will put on a memorial concert in his honor featuring his band, Doldrums, as well as Blacksnake, John Birch Society, Fully Loaded and special guests! Donations will be accepted for Greenview Hepatitis C Fund (www.hepcfund.org).

For more information on Russ Johnson, please go to: http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100428/ARTICLES/100429393

We would like to extend our sympathies to Russ’s family, friends and followers and we appreciate the fact that donations will be accepted for the Greenview Hepatitis C Fund at his memorial show.

Duke University finds adding Telaprevir to standard peginterferon/ ribavirin treatment seems to help nonresponders.

http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/healthteam/story/7386301/

Living donor exchange programs for liver transplants have now been successful in Hong Kong and South Korea. Because of the shortage of cadaver organs, partial liver transplants have become an option. “  However, many patients in need find that family members who are willing to donate organs have incompatible blood types. As a result, transplant centers worldwide are establishing coordinated donor exchange programs, where living donors are matched with medically acceptable and blood group compatible recipients in cases where the original intended recipient is not blood group compatible with their donor.”

Are there any hospitals in the U.S. that have such exchange programs? If not, should we be demanding them?

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/184316.php

Announcements on radio in UK spur people to get tested for HCV. Can we get this going everywhere?!

Experts praise scheme to tackle hepatitis C

If you have hep C,  you should  avoid  toxins, including nicotine. Smoking dramatically increases your chances of getting liver cancer, especially if you are male. Read more here:

http://www.hepatitis-central.com/mt/archives/2009/04/smoking_with_he.html

According to Reuters, Natalie Cole was hospitalized in New York for her Hepatitis C in September. I enjoy listening to Cole’s singing, so it’s a shame that she got involved with drugs over 30 years ago. Drug users who share needles are at major risk for getting infected with Hepatitis C. I would have to think that there are many more celebrities out there who are infected with Hepatitis C. I wonder if Cole is receiving treatment with either interferon or some other type of antiviral medication.