As state faces class-action lawsuit, legislators press bill to learn boundaries of Hepatitis C problem in prisons

March 08-- Mar. 8--With a class-action lawsuit supplying some urgency, two state legislators are pushing a bill that would "study the prevalence" of the hepatitis C virus among state prisoners and gauge the cost of screening and testing inmates.

"My hope for the long run is that we can diagnose and treat the virus in our facilities," said Rep. William Petit, R-Cheshire, a medical doctor and the ranking House Republican on the legislature's public health committee. Assuming many prisoners seek to go back on Medicaid when they get out, "it's the old pay now or pay more later situation," he said. "A liver transplant down the line is going to cost 10 times as much as the [hepatitis C] treatment."

State Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown and vice chair of the public health committee, said the rate of hepatitis C behind bars "is a big issue, a national issue, that the state needs to get a handle on."

With each course of hepatitis C medication costing $30,000 or more, and estimates that as many as 15 percent to 30 percent of the state's 13,349 inmates are infected with the virus, "we need to look at how to provide screening and treatment in a way that doesn't bankrupt the state," he said.

Many of the people who have died of intravenous opioid overdoses in Connecticut served stints in prison, and the sharing of dirty needles is one of the main ways the virus is spread.

Lesser said he spoke earlier this week about a potential hepatitis C crisis with the state's new prison chief, Rollin Cook.

"It was one of the first things I asked him: How are you going to address this?" Lesser said. "And he said it was going to be a priority. I realize he has to deal with the the takeover of medical care from UConn Health, but we have to start thinking outside of the box on this. Can we get the medication in bulk at a lower cost, as Louisiana seems to be doing?"

Connecticut is one of more than a dozen states contending with lawsuits alleging a failure to screen for and treat the virus, and failing to maintain data on prevalence.

Lawyers Kenneth J, Krayeske and DeVaughn L. Ward, who brought the hepatitis C lawsuit in Connecticut, said it's ironic legislators are taking the lead while the executive branch, in the form of Attorney General William Tong's office, is fighting every assertion in the lawsuit -- some of which the Lesser-Petit bill seeks to study and understand.

Assistant State Attorney General Steven R. Strom argues in a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed that "there are no reported decisions in the United States Supreme Court or this circuit that would clearly establish a right to the treatment plaintiffs seek or the other relief contained in their complaint."

Strom also argues that "three of the five current plaintiffs (Barfield, Davis and Barberi) are receiving treatment for HCV."

The lawsuit counters that federal courts have "upheld orders mandating prisoner access to [direct-acting anti-viral] treatment."

Both sides are waiting for U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea's ruling on the state's motion to dismiss.

"Instead of fighting the fact that there's a problem, spend the time figuring out ways to solve it," said Ward.

Petit said he's been thinking about hepatitis C screening and treatment as a budget issue for more than a year.

"It's a hot-button issue now and we have something that can cure it," Petit said. "We have to figure out the cost of treatment."

Petit has said he would lend his expertise and do all he could to aid the study that is called for in the bill.

Josh Kovner can be reached at jkovner@courant.com.

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