People who are incarcerated are at a higher risk of contracting Hepatitis C than the general population (Barbara Brosher, WFIU/WTIU News).
A federal judge says the Indiana Department of Correction’s refusal to provide treatment to Hepatitis C positive inmates constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
The class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of inmates with the chronic liver infection claims the motivation is monetary.
The FDA says direct-acting antiviral oral medications can cure chronic Hepatitis C, but the lawsuit says the Indiana DOC is withholding treatment from inmates until they experience cirrhosis of the liver, or even liver cancer.
Court documents say the DOC wants to cap costs for treatment at $1.5 million annually. But the medication can cost $25,000 per patient.
Ross Silverman is a professor of health policy and management at Indiana University’s Fairbanks School of public health. He says some estimates put the cost of providing all infected inmates with the medication at more than $85 million.
"The populations that are incarcerated are among the highest vulnerability populations for Hepatitis C," Silverman says. "They have a much higher rate of Hepatitis C than the general population."
Chief Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson wrote in her ruling that the DOC delaying or withholding treatment from any infected inmate violates the Eighth Amendment.
Silverman says the ruling is significant, because other states have addressed similar lawsuits by prioritizing treatment based on the severity of each case.
"What the judge in this case said is that there really is no medical justification for distinguishing between levels of severity because delays in care are going to lead to severe impact," he says.
A spokesperson for the DOC says the agency is still reviewing the case.
The judge's order also expands the class of inmates represented in the suit to include all current and future Indiana DOC inmates with chronic Hepatits C.
The order says all parties need to set a date to start the remedy phase of the case.
