James KathDec 15, 2022
Helen Branswell
My colleague, Nick Florko, spent three years reporting this tour de force project on how state prisons are allowing inmates to die of a curable disease, #hepatitisC. It is so worth your time, though be forewarned: It is heartbreaking & infuriating. https://www.statnews.com/death-sentence/
Death Sentence - STAT

There is a simple, outright cure for hepatitis C. But state prisons across the country are failing to save hundreds of people who die each year from the

STAT
Dec 15, 2022 at 3:00pmWeb
Show threadEmily Alpert ReyesDec 15, 2022
@HelenBranswell just such remarkable work
Show threadChuck HanDec 15, 2022
@HelenBranswell heartbreaking, but what is the solution? If the money needed to save these lives comes at the expense of other life-saving services, then who decides? If it comes out of non-lifesaving services, the solution might be easier.
Show threadJames KathDec 15, 2022

@HelenBranswell
I was on a Boston involuntary commitment jury trial a few years back, and the issue of the prisoner/patient being denied HCV drugs kept being eluded to - the judge kept striking it because it wasn’t relevant, but as a PhD student, I could tell what they were talking about

After, I looked it up and it sounded like the policy is that there were only 1-3 treatment slots for the ENTIRE STATE

Show threadJames KathDec 15, 2022
@HelenBranswell that was back in 2014-2015, early days for the drugs and I think it’s gotten better in MA. But still the whole topic is infuriating given the 8A requirement for standard of care (not even considering the public health dimension)