UVA Law Professor Representing Buckingham Inmate in Federal Suit

3-29-17 Virginia:

BUCKINGHAM COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) - A University of Virginia School of Law professor is representing a prison inmate in his fight to receive medical treatment for a life-threatening disease.

George Rutherglen filed a federal lawsuit against the Virginia Department of Corrections and Buckingham Correctional Center on behalf of Elmo Reid.

The suit alleges the Buckingham Correctional Center denied 60-year-old Reid the latest form of treatment for Hepatitis C, which is a viral liver infection.

Rutherglen says this is a growing public health crisis.

“We're really facing an issue of whether the commonwealth of Virginia can afford the harsh sentences that have been imposed in the past and, I think, the alternative is either treat these people or send them out into the world on probation or parole,” Rutherglen explained.

A federal judge denied a request from the correctional center and its medical team to dismiss the lawsuit.

A trial is set for January 2018. ..Source.. by Matt Talhelm

Inmates with hepatitis C sue Tennessee prison officials for treatment

See Costs: High cost of new HCV drugs strains prison budgets
July 2016 Tennessee:

Tennessee inmates infected with hepatitis C filed a federal lawsuit against state prison officials late Monday, asking the court to force the state to start treating all inmates who have the potentially deadly disease.

The lawsuit, filed by attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union and other advocates in U.S. District Court in Nashville, says the Tennessee Department of Correction officials knowingly denying inmates care for their hepatitis C, also known as HCV, constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. It alleges the department is denying care because the best available medication is too expensive.



"In reality, (department officials) ignore the medical needs of (inmates) and class members in order to save costs. (The department's) written policies for HCV diagnosis, assessment and treatment utilize outdated standards of care and normalize the practice of refusing treatment for unjust and medically unsound reasons," the lawsuit states.