A federal jury in Urbana this week awarded $8 million to four state prisoners who claimed they were not treated for hepatitis C under Department of Corrections policies, a Mattoon attorney said Thursday.
H. Kent Heller of Mattoon said he filed the case on behalf of Coles County resident Ed Roe and three other inmates housed at Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln in 2005 after confirming state policy prevented treatment of the disease for prisoners with less than 18 months remaining on their sentences. Treatment for hepatitis C can extend several months or two years.
“Under the Eighth Amendment we claimed this was a form of cruel and unusual punishment because the state was showing a deliberate indifference to medical care for the prisoners,” Heller said of the case decided during a two-day jury trial in the federal court building in Urbana this week.
Heller said the state’s policy could prove lethal because hundreds of Illinois prison inmates are infected with the disease that can lead to liver failure. But Heller showed only a small fraction of the infected prisoners were receiving treatment, based on evidence presented during the trial through of records from the state and an out-of-state medical firm working with Department of Corrections.
“The inmates are not able to sue the state for negligence so this increased our burden of proof. So we had to show deliberate indifference on the part of state,” Heller said.
According to a Web site sponsored by Cedars-Sinai Health System in New York City, hepatitis C is a leading cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer and the most common reason for liver transplants in the United States. Blood-to-blood contact can cause transmission of the disease from different sources including injected drug use, improper needlesticks, tattoos or body piercings with unclean needles and multiple-partner sexual activity.
“Three of the four inmates have reported swelling in their abdomens, back pain and flu-like symptoms. They believe they are suffering from inflammation of the liver,” Heller said.
The judgment of $8 million for punitive damages was evenly divided among the plaintiffs, and included $20,000 each for actual damages reflecting the state’s cost per inmate Hepatitis C treatment. The plaintiffs’ case claimed the state saved $38 million by not treating up to 1,900 inmates for the disease.
Heller, adding this was the largest monetary judgment he has won for any client, explained the case went before a federal court because it involved litigation on civil rights. U.S. District Judge Harold A. Baker presided over the trial.
The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin contributed to this story.
