Boston Globe June 30, 2018 By Danny McDonald A federal judge has approved a settlement between state prisoners who have Hepatitis C and the state’s Department of Correction that overhauls the agency’s protocol for identifying and treating inmates with the disease. Under the terms of the settlement, new DOC prisoners will be offered Hepatitis C […]
State wants to show compassion to ill inmates — and save money
Boston Globe May 21, 2018 By Jenifer McKim, New England Center for Investigative Reporting GARDNER — Beyond the barbed wire of a state prison, down a dirt road marked with “no trespassing” signs, lies a hill dotted with PVC-pipe crosses marking the graves of nearly 90 inmates. The makeshift crosses in this state-owned cemetery bear […]
Massachusetts Department of Correction settles lawsuit on treating inmates with hepatitis C
March 10, 2018 MassLive By Shira Schoenberg The Massachusetts Department of Correction has reached a settlement with prisoners’ rights groups over its medical treatment of prison inmates with hepatitis C. The settlement requires prisoners with the most serious cases of hepatitis C to be treated within 12 months. Prisoners with less serious cases will have […]
Prisoners, Mass. reach settlement agreement for treatment of hepatitis C
March 10, 2018 The Boston Globe By Katheleen Conti Prisoners in Massachusetts who have hepatitis C could soon be treated more frequently and with more effective, and more expensive, drugs as part of what is believed to be a groundbreaking class-action settlement agreement reached with the Massachusetts Department of Correction. If the agreement, filed in federal […]
With prisoners left out, state’s work on hepatitis C drug access is far from over
Letter to the Editor by PLS Staff Attorney Joel Thompson Boston Globe August 6, 2016 MASSACHUSETTS’ DECISION to lift restrictions on hepatitis C treatment for MassHealth patients is laudable (“Wider access to hep C drugs is humane and pragmatic,” Editorial, July 29), but those and other restrictions remain in place for the more than 1,500 […]