PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge on July 12 allowed portions of a class action lawsuit filed by group of prisoners with Hepatitis C to proceed against the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC).
Salvatore Chimenti, Daniel Leyva and David Maldonado sued the DOC, Secretary John Wetzel, Chief Medical Director Paul Noel and two medical services companies, for not providing proper care for inmates with Hepatitis C.
While incarcerated, plaintiffs claim they sought treatment for their Hepatitis C infections, but the DOC would only monitored some patients instead of treating them.
According to court documents, the DOC treated 297 infected inmates with DAAs out of the 7,521 diagnosed as of September 2017.
The plaintiffs argued that the DOC also chose to restrict treatment based on cost instead of medical recommendations.
The plaintiffs alleged medical malpractice and violations of the Eighth Amendment and Pennsylvania Constitution.
Judge John R. Padova of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania found most of the plaintiffs' claims credible and denied the DOC 's request for summary judgment.
However, Padova did throw out Maldonado's claim, because he is no longer an inmate. The judge also tossed Chimenti's medical malpractice claim. In addition, Padova ruled DOC did not waive its sovereign immunity claims, which protect state officials from many civil suits.