My fiance has had this for some time now. His count is getting up there but not at the levels they want to give that treatment. They want them to be on their death bed before they will treat. How do we fight this to get them treatment

I am hoping that danielle will come along and take a look at your question - she has had success in fighting the DOC for medical treatment, or you can PM her with the screen name

danielle

Hi. First of all, I'm really sorry you and he are going through this. It's tough - I know.

My husband is in the Alabama prison system and they continue to deny care or treatment for prisoners with Hepatitis C. However, we were allowed to bring in some herbal treatments and helped cause a small shake-up in the overall healthcare system.

I can tell you what all I did and maybe something will help.

1. Get his medical records. If you don't have power-of-attorney then get it. He should be able to tell you the procedure for getting medical records, or at least find out. If you have those records, it will prove invaluable. I attached copies of my husband's medical records to EVERYTHING.

2. Once you have his records, get an outside medical opinion. Find a doctor that will say, "Yes, he needs treatment now." Get this in writing and send it along with his medical records when writing to people.

3. Educate yourself on the treatments available - mainly Interferon. It and Ribiferon are the only FDA approved Hepatitis C treatments available right now.

4. Is the prison healthcare system operated by the state or an outside company (i.e. NaphCare, etc)? If it's an outside company, then find all the dirt on it that you can.

5. Talk to the people in your state's CURE or any other advocacy groups. Tell them what's going on and try and get assistance and suggestions from them. Get in touch with the Jeff Dicks Medical Coalition and get advice from them. Even if there's not a chapter in your state - they can help. Shirley Dicks has forgotten more about prison healthcare than I'll ever know. She's lived it - she knows it.

6. Call, write, fax, email and generally bother the governor, comissioner over corrections, DOC, senators, representatives, and anyone in state government, parole board members, etc.

7. I wrote a letter to the District Attorney of the county that prosecuted my husband and explained this all to him. He wrote a letter to the parole board asking for a hearing and supporting his parole. That one letter went a long, long way in getting my husband home.

8. Contact any reporters (I found one who helped more than words can say and who deserves a lot of credit in this fight for prison healthcare) and follow-up with them. Publicity is a great thing and if you can get one to tell your story - it'll help a great deal.

9. Don't be pushy but be persistant. I let them know up-front I wasn't going away.

10. Lastly, encourage your guy to go to the doctor every chance he gets. The more medical evidence he has to back up his claims, the better off you'll be.

Early on in this battle, I asked my husband if this flurry of activity on his behalf would hurt him in any way - if they'd make it rough on him. He said, "How can it get any worse? I'm getting no healthcare now - they can't deny it again." He made an excellent point.

This has pretty much taken up all of my spare time since my husband's diagnosis in November and my diagnosis in April. Best wishes and good luck to you. If I can help - please let me know.