Alabama: Settlement Reached in HIV Inmates' Health Care Suit

After several months of negotiations, a lawsuit claiming HIV-positive inmates at Alabama's Limestone Correctional Facility received inadequate care has been settled. Mediated by Magistrate Judge John Ott, the settlement was filed Friday in the federal district court in Birmingham. Terms of the settlement, expected to be signed at a hearing Wednesday, were not disclosed.

The lawsuit against the state Department of Corrections and its former medical provider was filed on behalf of the HIV-positive inmates by the Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR). The suit argued that prison medical provider NaphCare Inc. failed to adequately treat the inmates and ultimately hastened some inmate deaths in 2002. The corrections department has since changed medical providers, but at the time of the lawsuit said treatments and housing for the HIV prisoners were up to par. An infectious disease specialist hired by the lawyers to inspect Limestone released an August report that recorded "preventable, premature deaths."

The Department of Corrections, together with Prison Health Services -- the Tennessee-based firm currently providing medical care to the inmates -- have said Limestone is in compliance with National Commission of Correctional Health Care standards.

SCHR and Department of Corrections representatives declined to comment on the settlement terms until after Wednesday's hearing.

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