NCJ Number
190465
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 63 Issue: 5 Dated: August 2001 Pages: 75-78
Date Published
August 2001
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article examined a model program for hepatitis C treatment in prison.
Abstract
In response to concerns about the increasing number of inmates being diagnosed with hepatitis C, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) in 1999 formed a select committee to address issues of proper diagnosis and treatment of this emerging health concern. The committee solicited input from psychiatry to help formulate guidelines to minimize any adverse psychiatric impact of hepatitis C treatment. The illness takes different courses with different individuals, and it is difficult to predict its course. The major treatments -- interferon alone, interferon and ribavirin, and pegylated interferon -- range in efficacy from 20 percent to 60 percent. Both interferon and ribavirin are potentially toxic, with serious side effects. Interferon's potential to induce psychiatric symptoms is significant and may result in suicide. Of 5,259 inmates either identified with hepatitis C or in the process of being evaluated, there were no suicides attributed directly or indirectly to interferon treatment. Incidents of increased irritability, anxiety, and depression in some individuals treated with interferon were nowhere near the numbers expected from initial impressions, given the exhaustive literature review. As treatment is refined and the department modifies its approach to its inmate population, the Pennsylvania DOC has become a model for hepatitis C treatment in a correctional setting. Notes