A lawsuit filed by inmates in Missouri has been class-certified by a US District Judge, which opens the door to thousands of potential claimants joining the suit. The lawsuit alleges that the Missouri Department of Corrections (MDC) failed to properly treat the Hepatitis-C-positive prison population. Hepatitis C is a viral infection that attacks the liver and can affect infected individuals in different ways, with effects ranging from mild illness to cirrhosis that leads to death.
“There are a little over 4,700 inmates known to be infected with Hep-C,” said Gary Burger, a personal injury attorney with the Burger Firm in St. Louis, Missouri. “That number is likely to be higher, as many people are infected but do not know it. The Missouri Department of Corrections is currently only treating five – five! – of those infected individuals. A cure for the virus exists, so depriving inmates of access to that medication that they would be able to receive were they not incarcerated leads to serious issues of liability.”
Hepatitis-C treatments are some of the most expensive treatments on the market, currently ranging anywhere from $70,000 to $100,000 for a three-month course of medication. However, with the result of treatment being a cure, the upfront cost of the medication is likely outweighed by the long-term cost of providing the level of care associated with declining liver function and failure.
These inmates, though they have had certain privileges revoked due to incarceration, still have certain constitutional rights that may not be violated. In this class-action lawsuit, the inmates are alleging that by refusing to treat inmates who have this known, treatable condition, their rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments were violated. The Eighth Amendment guarantees that no one shall be subject to cruel and unusual punishment, while the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees that no state shall be able to deprive an individual of their lives without due process. The inmates are arguing that depriving them of medication that would ease or eliminate suffering caused by the virus, is cruel and unusual punishment, and that under the Fourteenth Amendment, their due process rights are being infringed because they have no recourse when treatment is denied.
“In obtaining class certification, the pool of possible plaintiffs grows exponentially, as does the possibility of proving the claims of the plaintiffs,” said Burger. “These claims need to be heard, and the MDC needs to answer for why it has refused treatment to these thousands of individuals. Incarcerated individuals are still people with rights that need to be respected.”
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