New Hepatitis C Ruling in North Carolina
A federal judge has ordered North Carolina prisons to expand treatment for hepatitis C, which kills more American than any other infectious disease. The injunction follows a class-action lawsuit filed by three inmates who say thousands of incarcerated people in North Carolina are going undiagnosed due to a lack of universal hepatitis C testing.
Hundreds with the liver infection are developing health complications while the state denies them potentially life-saving medication, the lawsuit states. U.S. District Judge William Osteen Jr. issued a ruling Wednesday that calls for the N.C. Department of Public Safety to stop withholding treatment if an inmate has a recent drug infraction, a life expectancy under 10 years, or less than a year on his or her sentence. The ruling also calls for the state to stop using what the plaintiffs called an outdated and unreliable test to determine whether the disease has progressed enough to qualify for modern drugs that could cure the disease. This story has been corrected to show that the judge denied the plaintiffs request for universal screening.
The judge’s order, however, doesn’t set out a new treatment policy or standard. The judge also denied a request for universal hepatitis screening in prisons. The Department of Public Safety will comply with the court’s order, wrote spokesman John M.R. Bull. Changes to treatment guidelines will start Monday.
