A complaint filed with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges that Alabama's Medicaid program is illegally denying curative drug treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection to people with substance use disorder.
The complaint was filed May 9 by the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation (CHLPI) of Harvard Law School, in partnership with AIDS Alabama.
It alleges that Alabama Medicaid has a policy of denying HCV treatment to people who have used illegal drugs or alcohol in the past 6 months.
CHLPI and AIDS Alabama argue that these restrictions violate the Americans With Disabilities Act, which protects people who are disabled because of substance use disorder.
"Forced sobriety policies don't just unfairly prevent people with substance use disorder from accessing life-saving treatment; they also severely hamper public health efforts to stop the spread of the disease," Kevin Costello, CHLPI's litigation director, said in a statement.
"These policies are rooted in stigma, not science, and they violate antidiscrimination provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act," Costello said.
Filing an administrative complaint against Alabama is "an important milestone in fighting sobriety restrictions," he added.
Morally Wrong
Kathie Hiers, CEO of AIDS Alabama, noted that Alabama's health outcomes are among the worst in the nation.
