On June 10, 2015, Massachusetts prisoners infected with the Hepatitis C virus filed this class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the case was appointed to Judge Nathaniel Gorton. The plaintiffs sued the Massachusetts Department of Correction and the Massachusetts Partnership for Correctional Healthcare, under 42 U.S.C. §1983, for violations of the Eighth Amendment. The plaintiffs, represented by Prisoner Legal Services and private counsel, asked the court for declaratory and injunctive relief claiming that defendants were deliberately indifferent to the serious medical needs of plaintiffs and members of the class infected with the Hepatitis C virus.

Specifically, the plaintiffs claimed that the state refused to provide newer and more effective Hepatitis C treatments. Instead, the state knowingly delayed evaluating prisoners and consciously avoided knowledge of their treatment needs. The plaintiffs alleged that a vast number of prisoners with Hepatitis C were not being afforded the necessary testing to determine whether they should receive treatment.

On March 14, 2016, plaintiffs filed notice that the named plaintiff had died. On July 29, 2016 the plaintiffs amended their complaint alleging the same claims, but reflecting the recent change in lead plaintiff and defendant (the Commissioner of MDOC had also recently changed).

On January 17, 2017 the parties announced that they were amenable to mediation as discovery proceedings carried on. On February 9, 2018 the parties announced to the court that they had reached a settlement on all terms. The parties are currently drafting a settlement agreement to be formally submitted to the court.

Lakshmi Gopal - 10/17/2015
Will McCartney - 02/18/2018


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