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.
Read more... Labels: lawsuit, Massachusetts, prisoners, treatment in prisons