My brother-in-law was diagnosed with Hep C and late stage 3 liver disease a few years ago. He spent years as an active alcoholic, although he spent the most recent 3 years sober. He had tried Rebetron, and it was unsuccessful for him. It did not significantly lower the Hep C, deteriorated his heart, and lead to such great depression that he nearly committed suicide. Treatment was discontinued. Since then, he has taken a real depressing turn. He discontinued all meds in early November, and started drinking 12-18 beers per day. His jaundice began to return and he has lost almost all muscle tissue and had some belly protrusion. That was the last time that anyone in the family saw him. He called me on Sunday to find out how his young children are doing and told me that he doesn't want anyone to see him because he is in such bad shape. I don't know if he is still drinknig, but he told me that his belly has gotten really bad and it hurts terribly. He has been using heroin for the past few months to deal with the pain - he says it is the only thing that works. He is not a transplant candidate - even before he relapsed because of his genotype of Hep C. He doesn't want help and was just crying about missing his kids but not wanting them to see him as he is. He refuses to seek medical attention and I don't know where he is, but he continues to call me crying in anguish about his kids and the fact that he is dying. I have begged him to go for help, but he says that there is nothing to be done, so he may as well go. His pain is awful, even with the heroin. I don't know how long he may last or if I should try and have him traced down. It just breaks my heart and I don't know if his suffering will continue for weeks, months or years. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.