|
|
| Pennsylvania Prisons Changing Way it Treats Inmates with Hepatitis C |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 07/30/2003 |
|
Pennsylvania's state prison officials plan to treat far fewer inmates found to be infected with Hepatitis C, but those who are treated will get better care. In fact, new guidelines that go into effect in September - not to mention more effective drugs already being used to fight the chronic liver disease - will mean not only better treatment for prisoners but better news for taxpayers, state prison officials, medical experts and prisoner advocates say. About 8,000 of Pennsylvania's roughly 40,000 state inmates - or 20 percent - are infected with Hepatitis C. Currently, about 5 to 7 percent of infected inmates are being treated, but new screening techniques mean only 1 to 2 percent of infected inmates will be treated, officials project. What the Pennsylvania plan is designed to do is get better drugs to the prisoners who need them most, stop the treatment of inmates who may not need it, and ensure that inmates finish treatment before they leave prison, said Dr. Fred Maue, chief of clinical services for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. As a result, inmates will also be refused treatment unless they have at least 18 months left on their sentence. That's because it will take about six months to screen the inmates to see if they're eligible for treatment plus up to a year to receive the treatments. That's important because, unlike drugs for HIV - another disease that affects prisoners at much higher rates than the general U.S. population - Hepatitis C drugs aren't covered by the government assistance programs. 'The problem with Hepatitis C is there's nobody to pay for their meds after they're out of prison,' said Dr. Richard Greifinger, a nationally known CDC consultant who last year authored a congressional report on the national state of correctional health care. 'It's actually dangerous for the patient, I think, to have an incomplete treatment.' The new medicines, pegylated interferon combined with ribavirin, should cure roughly 50 to 60 percent of those infected - and 80 to 90 percent of those with less aggressive strains of the disease, said Dr. Thomas Shaw-Stiffel, a specialist with the Center for Liver Diseases at UPMC Health System in Pittsburgh. 'That's very exciting because (those cure rates) are now the standard across the country for people on the outside' of prisons, said Shaw-Stiffel. The old medicines cured only 10 to 40 percent of those treated, medical researchers say. Pennsylvania's new plan 'is absolutely consistent with current recommendations for correctional health care' put forth by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, Greifinger said. Hepatitis C is spread by intravenous drug use and, in rare instances, transfusions or sex. The disease can cause jaundice, fatigue, pain and vomiting and gradually can cause cirrhosis and liver cancer. Only 20 percent of those infected exhibit symptoms, and those with the disease often don't have symptoms for decades after contracting it, experts say. Nationally, about 18 percent of prison inmates are infected - that's 10 times the 1.8 percent infection rate in the general U.S. population, which has 4 million people infected, according to the CDC. |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think