The Advocate reports that Louisiana inmates have filed three separate federal lawsuits claiming that prison officials denied them lifesaving hepatitis C medicine. While the inmates who filed the suits have received medication, the article states that several inmates have died due to the denial of hepatitis c medicine.
The allegations made in the law suit names Elayn Hunt Correctional Facility as the site of the complaint. The inmates claim that while in the custody of the Elayn Hunt Correctional Facility they were denied medication that has a high probability of curinghepatitis C. The inmates claim that they were denied the medication because the prison chose to save money rather than save lives. Prison officials deny making any medical decisions on the basis of cost, instead they assert that they provided medical care adequate during the time. The inmates refute the adequacy of the medical care stating that the lifesaving medication was approved by the FDA and the prison and prison officials knew of the medication yet refused to administer it. Instead the prison’s method of treatment was to monitor the inmates individually, an ineffective method of treating hepatitis C. Autopsy reports shows that several inmates who had hepatitis C and who were not treated died during this time.
This case is not unique to Louisiana. In fact, cases like this are on the rise in this country. In 2018 Colorado inmates reached a $41M settlement for Hepatitis C Treatment. Additionally, Inmates in Missouri, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Connecticut and several other states have filed similar lawsuits. Almost every case alleges that the prisons’ failure to treat its Hepatitis C inmates with adequate and effective treatment violates the Eighth Amendment.
This case and all cases like it leaves one to question, just what does “cruel and unusual punishment” mean?
Source: “Inmates sue over lifesaving hepatitis C medicine.” The Advocate. Grace Toohey. February 10, 2019.