Prisoners Sue Massachusetts for Withholding Hepatitis C Drugs

In the latest example of how the high price tags for hepatitis C drugs are limiting use in some of the most infected populations, two inmates in Massachusetts state prisons have filed a lawsuit accusing the state prison system of failing to provide the drugs to most infected prisoners.

More than 1,500 inmates in Massachusetts state prisons have hepatitis C, but only three are being treated for it, the lawsuit states, even though Gilead Sciences GILD +1.24% and AbbVie ABBV -0.29% introduced drugs since late 2013 that have higher cure rates and shorter treatment durations than older hepatitis C regimens.

“Prisoners who ought to receive the new medications are not receiving them, and a vast number of prisoners with Hepatitis C are not being afforded the necessary testing to determine whether they too should receive treatment,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Boston.

Lawyers from Prisoners’ Legal Services, a non-profit advocacy group, filed the lawsuit on behalf of inmates Emilian Paszko and Jeffrey Fowler. The lawsuit seeks class-action status on behalf of other Massachusetts inmates infected with hepatitis C who have been denied treatment.

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Minnesota prison inmates sue to gain access to costly hepatitis C medications

Two prisoners have sued the state, highlighting a national dilemma: tax money going for expensive treatments.

Two inmates are suing the ­Minnesota Department of Corrections seeking access to costly drug treatments for hepatitis C, a serious liver condition that in many cases can be cured with a new generation of medications.

Filed in federal court this month, the lawsuit taps into a national debate over how prison systems can afford the costly new drugs, some of which carry a sticker price of $1,000 per pill and $90,000 for the full treatment.

In a written statement, the Corrections Department said that it could not comment on the lawsuit, but added: “It is not true that offenders do not have access to the new ­medications.”

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Study tallies huge cost of hepatitis C drugs for RI prisons

A new study finds that effective new hepatitis C drugs are so expensive the state of Rhode Island would have to spend almost twice its entire prison health budget to treat all its chronically infected inmates. Even providing the medicine only to the very sickest inmates who will remain in custody for at least another year would exceed the state prison system's pharmacy budget more than five times over.

The budget impact analysis, published online in the Journal of Urban Health, provides detailed new evidence of the "sticker shock" that states face in battling an epidemic that affects millions of people nationwide. The prevalence of the liver disease, which is often spread via injection drug use, is especially high in prisons. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court has obliged prison systems to provide inmates with care comparable to what is available in the community.

"The big problem is, even if you just take the most advanced disease, you can't afford it with the current correctional budget," said Dr. Brian Montague, assistant professor medicine and public health at Brown University and a physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at The Miriam Hospital, who led the study. "There was an option to defer treatment before because the [prior] treatments were significantly more toxic and the risks often outweighed the benefits. Now, with safe and highly effective treatments, morally and ethically there's no option to not treat, particularly for those with more advanced disease."

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Australia: World first trials for hepatitis C wonder drug in Sydney's maximum security jails

Two of NSW's maximum security jails are the location for a world-first trial of a new wonder drug that could stop the spread of the blood-borne disease hepatitis C through the prison populations.

Prisoners at the Lithgow and Goulburn jails are being recruited to take part in the treatment program, which it is hoped will eventually rid the institutions of the disease and potentially save the lives of thousands suffering chronic infections.

About a third of all prisoners in NSW jails are infected with chronic hepatitis C, which spreads rapidly through prisons by blood-to-blood contact including sharing of needles, syringes and other drug paraphernalia, tattoo equipment and from fights.

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Federal judge lets NY prison hepatitis policy claim proceed

A lawsuit that says New York state officials, including former Gov. George Pataki, supported a policy to trim medical costs that led to the denial of hepatitis treatment for some inmates can proceed to trial, a judge has ruled.

In the decision entered in the public record Monday, U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Dearie in Brooklyn ruled that a former prisoner identified only as "K. Doe" had adequately asserted his $250 million claim that Pataki and other government officials created and implemented a policy to withhold from state prisoners their positive hepatitis status and deny treatment as a cost-saving measure.

Melissa Grace, a spokeswoman for the state attorney general's office, which is representing the defendants, including Pataki, said the office had no comment.

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Idaho DOC requests $800K to treat inmates with Hepatitis C

Cost difference between treating the inmates and letting them die in the ICU is "a compelling argument" for taxpayers 

BOISE, Idaho — The Department of Corrections has requested $800,000 to purchase a cure for hepatitis C that would run $94,000 a patient in order to treat infected inmates.

Related Articles: Cost for Hepatitis C drugs for prisoners risingHepatitis C treatment costs $90,000 per R.I. inmate

The Idaho Statesman reports that the cost difference between treating the inmates and letting them die in the ICU is “a compelling argument” for taxpayers.

The treatment for one patient who died of liver failure brought on by the disease added to up to $200,000.

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