By C1 Staff
ST. PAUL — Two inmates are suing the Minnesota Department of Corrections to gain access to drug treatments for hepatitis C.
The Star Tribune reports that the inmates claim they were denied access to groundbreaking new drugs with a 95 percent cure rate because of “deliberate indifference to their serious medical needs.”
The DOC would not comment on the pending litigation but did state that it wasn’t true that offenders were denied access to the new medications.
The drugs can cost between $1,000 per pill and $90,000 for the full treatment for hepatitis C, a serious liver condition.
It’s unclear if DOCs will be able to afford the new drugs, and drug companies defended the cost of the medications because they offer a cure to so many patients.