A tentative deal has been reached to settle a class-action lawsuit brought against the state Department of Corrections over the lack of hepatitis C treatment for many prisoners, though the details are secret for now.
The Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union brought the case against the corrections department two years ago in federal court in Vermont. Joining the Vermont ACLU were Harvard Law School’s Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation and the law firm Costello, Valente & Gentry in Brattleboro.
A recent notice filed with the court stated that a “settlement in principle” has been reached and is now “being processed for execution.” The parties asked the court to have until June 1 to file additional paperwork related to the proposed deal.
The Vermont Attorney General’s Office, which is representing the state government in the lawsuit, referred questions to the corrections department.
Rachel Feldman, a corrections department spokesperson, said it is the department’s policy not to comment on pending litigation.
Jay Diaz, a staff attorney with ACLU Vermont, said because the proposed settlement has not been finalized, he couldn’t comment on its terms.
Similar legal actions over the hepatitis C treatment of people in state custody have been brought and settled by ACLU affiliates and other organizations in several states, including Florida, Massachusetts and Missouri.
In a Colorado settlement, the state agreed to spend a specific amount of money for the treatment of inmates with hepatitis C and provide the ACLU quarterly reports concerning the prison’s population with the disease and prisoners who have been treated.
The tentative agreement in Vermont follows a number of motions, including one motion to dismiss the case; it was denied by federal Judge William Sessions. Sessions also agreed to certify that lawsuit as class-action.
Among the suit’s claims is that the denial of needed medication for inmates with hepatitis C is a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which bars cruel and unusual punishment.
The treatment of inmates for hepatitis C was the subject of a legislative hearing in 2018, when it was revealed that in 2017 that 258 people in custody had the disease, but the corrections department treated just one of them.
In 2018, the corrections department began to provide medication to prisoners on a more regular basis, though when the lawsuit was filed a year later, the number of untreated inmates still numbered above 200, according to the complaint.
“The legal adequacy of defendants’ current practice constitutes a merits issue to be explored and resolved later in the case,” Sessions wrote in his ruling denying the state’s bid to dismiss the case, based partially on new procedures adopted for prisoners.
Hepatitis C is a progressive liver disease that can lead to permanent liver damage, cancer and death if left untreated. A pill needs to be taken daily for eight to 12 weeks to cure the disease, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was initially brought by two inmates at the time, Richard West and Joseph Bruyette. West has since been released from custody, while Bruyette remains incarcerated at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, according to the corrections department online offender locator.
