Hepatitis C Outbreak in Prisons- who's responsibility is medical care?

The prevalence of Hepatitis C infection in US prisoners is 17%. That is 17x higher than the general population prevalence, which is just around 1%. Though there is an effective and curative treatment available for Hepatitis C, access to these drugs has yet to reach incarcerated people. Of the estimated 144000 incarcerated people who are currently infected with HIV, only about 3% are receiving treatment. Advocates say this is in direct violation to constitutional law, and the Supreme Court's ruling that incarcerated people have a right to medical care. Prisons say they simply don't have the money. A single course of Hepatitis C treatment can cost up to $90,000 dollars, so its true that cost really is prohibitively high. This is yet another case in which the science has advanced far enough for cures to be available, but social policies and structures make it impossible for everyone to access these life-saving treatments. If drug development is expensive, but everyone, even the poor, marginalized, and incarcerated have a right to medical care, who is going to bear the cost of developing and providing that care? This is a huge issue, but one that is clearly viewable in the continued Hepatitis C outbreak among incarcerated Americans. 

~Lisa Manzanete

References:

- https://www.hepmag.com/article/advocates-say-ending-hepatitis-c-epidemic-must-start-prisons

- https://www.governing.com/topics/public-justice-safety/khn-state-prison-inmates-hepatitis.html