In an early-August edition of the Salt Lake Tribune, Utah Corrections spokesman Jack Ford admitted that inmates are not routinely tested for hepatitis C “because the numbers would be staggering”.  Ford made this remark in response to questions surrounding Hep-C positive prisoner Kenneth Degroot, who has been denied treatment for his disease. 

The Jeff Dicks Medical Coalition, which advocates for prisoners’ rights to medical care, has taken on Degroot’s case after the Department of Corrections denied him entrance to the prison’s treatment program based on a drug-positive urine test.  Under the Corrections Department’s policy, an inmate can be placed on a waiting list for the program after both two years of clean urine tests and a year of having liver enzymes at double normal levels, which indicates chronic liver disease.  The program then consists of a year of treatment, followed by six months’ follow-up treatment, so inmates whose parole dates will come up within 18 months are also denied treatment.  While Utah is one of only 10 states with initiatives to treat Hepatitis C, only 10 prisoners currently benefit from the program. 

It is estimated that between 10 and 30 percent of Utah prisoners have Hepatitis C, though without a test exact figures cannot be found.  Ford reports that Degroot has been receiving medical care outside of the treatment program, though due to confidentiality laws he cannot elaborate. The Utah Corrections Department tests inmates for both HIV and tuberculosis upon entrance to the prison system.

Source: Salt Lake Tribune