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| Funds cut for hep C treatment in Mich. Prisons |
| By Lansing State Journal |
| Published: 03/29/2004 |
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Prison officials this month will find out how extensive hepatitis C is in Michigan's prisons, but they won't have any money to stop the potentially fatal liver disease from spreading. A state Senate appropriations subcommittee last Tuesday cut $5.9 million proposed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in the corrections budget for the coming fiscal year. That money was pegged to test and treat prisoners for hepatitis C. The cut was part of an effort to trim more than $20 million from the $1.8 billion in corrections spending proposed for the 2004-05 fiscal year. Prisoner advocates were outraged, saying that without the money, the state is allowing the disease to spread, putting the lives of inmates and the public at risk of liver disease and other complications. "There is a disease flourishing at epidemic rates and for us to ignore it is irresponsible," said state Rep. Triette Reeves, a Detroit Democrat who has spent four years pushing for hepatitis C funding. Further angering Reeves is that the action comes as officials prepare to release results of a three-month survey aimed at determining how extensive the disease is among Michigan's 48,500 prisoners. Results of the survey, which tested 600 inmates on a voluntary basis, are due to the Legislature by April 1. "We are going to know soon how big a problem this is, and now we won't have money to treat it," Reeves said. "That's ridiculous." The survey, mandated by the state Legislature last year at a cost of $30,000, is intended to give officials a better understanding of the virus' prevalence in Michigan's 42 prisons. A Lansing State Journal special report in September revealed that up to 18,000 prisoners are infected with hepatitis C. Yet only 55 are being treated. Prison officials say they don't have enough money to treat all infected inmates - a cost that could reach $130 million a year. Prisoner advocates and health officials from across the country say the state must take measures to test and treat infected inmates to prevent an epidemic that could cost the state millions of dollars to treat if left unchecked. Senators left $100 in the budget for hepatitis C testing and treatment, leaving open the possibility that full funding could be restored later. |
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