KANSAS CITY – The Missouri Department of Corrections has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit brought by inmates who alleged the agency and its private medical provider Corizon LLC denied them treatment for chronic hepatitis C (HCV).
Under the proposed settlement, the sickest inmates would receive treatment with direct-acting antiviral (DAA) medications, “commonly understood as a cure for HCV,” by June 2021. Starting July 21, 2021, the state will spend $7 million annually to treat inmates with DAA medications. If left untreated, HCV can cause liver failure or death.
“Those inmates who are HCV positive but are unable to be treated because they do not have enough time remaining on their sentences will be provided referral information as part of reentry,” court documents said.
The state will also pay $375,000 in legal fees to the plaintiff’s attorneys.
The department and Corizon denied the allegations in the lawsuit but have agreed to a settlement.
“The parties have now reached an amicable resolution in this case,” a motion for preliminary approval of the agreement said. The settlement calls for testing, screening and treatment of HCV “as well as necessary medical monitoring of certain class members whose liver damage poses an ongoing risk to their health, education related to HCV, and the availability of and procedures for requesting testing within MDOC for both inmates and staff.”
More than 3,000 prisoners are currently part of the class-action lawsuit.
“The intent of the Agreement is that not only will all class members be eligible for treatment in theory, but by the end of the next medical services contract, all class members will have received treatment in practice,” the motion stated. It urges court approval for the settlement, stating that if the case went to trial, there is no guarantee the plaintiffs would win.
The Department of Corrections declined to comment on the proposed settlement.