Description: Patients being treated for hepatitis C infection often feel the cure is worse than the disease. Common side effects of therapy - including severe fatigue and depression, flu-like symptoms, and anemia - cause many people to abandon therapy long before they should. But company-sponsored research now suggests that a newly available form of a long-relied-upon treatment is not only more effective in clearing the hepatitis C virus (HCV) from the blood, it is also easier for people to tolerate. Those treated with the drug, known as pegylated interferon, reported having significantly better quality of life both during the 48-week course of treatment and after treatment ended. PEGASYS is the brand name of the drug used in this study.