See also: Lawsuit Says State Refuses to Treat Prisoners for Hepatitis C, Letting Some Die5-11-17 Florida:
Thousands of Florida prison inmates who have hepatitis C are not getting adequate medication and treatment — leaving them at risk for liver failure, liver cancer and death, according to a lawsuit filed against the Florida Department of Corrections.
The case, brought on behalf of three state prison inmates who have the disease, alleges that up to 40,000 state inmates could have some form of the disease, which can potentially be spread — not only among the prison population — but to the general public if not treated by the time an inmate is released.
The lawsuit, filed by the Florida Justice Institute, seeks an immediate injunction forcing the state prison system to start treating inmates with the disease by providing medications that have been approved and recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Drug Administration since 2013.
“The FDC recognizes that hepatitis C is a serious disease that is easy to cure,” said Randall C. Berg Jr., FJI’s executive director. “Yet it routinely fails to provide lifesaving medication to people incarcerated in Florida.”
The Institute maintains that FDC’s treatment rate is among the lowest in the nation, and that as many as 40,000 of the state’s 99,000 inmates could be infected. ..Continued.. by JULIE K. BROWN
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