the new york times:Jail Ordered to Give Inmate Methadone for Opioid Addiction in Far-Reaching Ruling

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By: KATE TAYLOR

FULL ARTICLE: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/28/us/inmate-methadone-opioid-addiction-ruling.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FPrisons%20and%20Prisoners&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=collection

An inmate took his methadone treatment at the New Haven Correctional Center in Connecticut last year. Most jails and prisons around the country do not give inmates access to methadone.CreditCredit- Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times

BOSTON — In a ruling that could have tremendous consequences for the country’s correctional system, a federal judge said this week that a Massachusetts man facing a jail sentence could not be denied access to treatment for his opioid addiction.

Judge Denise J. Casper of the United States District Court in Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction on Monday, saying that Geoffrey Pesce was likely to prevail in his argument that such a refusal violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and was cruel and unusual punishment.

“One thing this ruling says is that, one way or another, either by legislation or by legal mandate, jails and prisons are going to have to do this,” Michael Botticelli, the executive director of the Grayken Center for Addiction at Boston Medical Center, said of Judge Casper’s order.

Some experts have estimated that up to a quarter of those incarcerated have opioid-use disorder. But most jails and prisons around the country do not give inmates access to methadone or buprenorphine, two medications that many experts consider to be the gold standards for treatment of opioid-use disorder.

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Nov. 28, 2018