- There must be no plans to use interferon in the following 12 months due to EITHER: a specific contraindication to interferon therapy, including but not limited to:history of depression, or other psychiatric disease, history of autoimmune disease,psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, history of renal dysfunction, thyroid abnormalities, seizure disorder, depressed blood cell counts, history of asthma OR patient discontinuation of interferon-based therapy prematurely due to intolerable side effects with sustained active viremia OR patient refusal to take interferon