Notice To All Current and Future Inmates In IDOC Custody: Proposed Settlement and Fairness Hearing In Class Action Lawsuit for Hepatitis Treatment

(Delivered via JPay 2-18-22)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF IDAHO

PHILIP A. TURNEY, et al.,Plaintiffs,

vs.

HENRY ATENCIO, et al.,Defendants.

Case No. 1:18-CV-00001-BLW

This is a Court-ordered Notice directed to members of the Class affected by the lawsuit. The purpose of this Notice is to inform Class members of a proposed settlement in the lawsuit, including the right to provide any objection to the proposed settlement, and provide notice of the upcoming Fairness Hearing where the Court will be asked to approve the proposed settlement.

PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY.

This lawsuit is filed against various officials of the Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) and its contract medical provider, Corizon LLC (Corizon), together the Defendants, seeking relief regarding the treatment of Idaho inmates with chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV).

The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief, asking the Court to direct IDOC and Corizon to make changes to policies and practices regarding the treatment of Idaho inmates with chronic HCV.

This proposed Class Action settlement has nothing to do with monetary damages, and new prisoner claims for monetary damages related to HCV claims, if any, cannot be brought, heard or adjudicated in this lawsuit. Any prisoner who desires to assert a personal claim for monetary damages arising from HCV may and must do so outside of this case in a separate action.

This case has been certified as a class action, and the Class is defined as:

All current and future inmates in IDOC legal and/or physical custody who have not been diagnosed with HCV; all current and future inmates in IDOC legal and/or physical custody who have or will be diagnosed with HCV; and all individual Plaintiffs who have been treated with DAA Treatment.

If you meet this definition, you are automatically a Class member and do not need to take any further action. Since the lawsuit seeks only injunctive relief, you cannot opt out of the Class.

You are receiving this Notice because there is a proposed settlement on behalf of the entire Class and you now have the opportunity to object to the settlement if you desire.

The proposed settlement, in summary, provides:

Defendants will conduct Opt-Out antibody and viral load testing for all inmates that intake into an IDOC Reception and Diagnostic Unit (RDU) and provide all inmates at intake with a copy of the Hepatitis C – General Information form published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

All inmates without a prior documented positive HCV RNA viral load test through IDOC shall be offered an HCV antibody test and, if the HCV antibody test is positive, a reflexive HCV RNA viral load test on an Opt-Out Testing basis. If the RNA test is positive, the inmate will be enrolled in the HCV Chronic Care Clinic.

Inmates housed outside of an RDU without a prior documented positive HCV antibody test through IDOC will be tested within sixty (60) days upon written request submitted by the inmate on a Health Services Request form.

Inmates who are diagnosed with HCV will be enrolled in the Chronic Disease Program (CDP) or its equivalent. No inmate with chronic HCV will be deemed ineligible to receive DAA treatment based solely upon the inmates fibrosis score and/or priority level.

From fiscal years 2021 through 2025, IDOC will spend a total of $29.25 million dollars for the purpose of providing DAA treatment to eligible inmates and begin DAA treatment for a minimum of 575 eligible inmates.

This settlement does not guarantee any inmate will receive any particular type of treatment for any medical condition, including any infection with HCV.

If you would like to review a full copy of the proposed settlement agreement, please submit an Access to Courts Request form. Please do not call the Federal District Court regarding the settlement agreement or this case.

The Court will conduct a Fairness Hearing to determine whether the proposed settlement agreement will be approved. Because the proposal would bind class members, the court may approve it only on finding that it is fair, reasonable, and adequate after considering whether: (A) the class representative and class counsel have adequately represented the class; (B) the proposal was negotiated at arms length; (C) the relief provided for the class is adequate, taking into account:

(i) the costs, risks, and delay of trial and appeal, (ii) the effectiveness of any proposed method of distributing relief to the class, including the method of processing class-member claims, (iii) the terms of any proposed award of attorneys fees, including timing of payment, and (iv) any agreement required to be identified under Rule 23(e)(3); and

(D) the proposal treats class members equitably relative to each other. Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(e)(2). The Fairness Hearing has been scheduled for May 10, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. Following the hearing, the Court will decide whether or not to approve the settlement agreement.

Any Class member has a right to inform the Court that he/she objects to the proposed settlement. Class members may object to the proposed settlement by completing and submitting the Notice of Objection form by March 21, 2022 (the Objection Deadline) to the Court addressed below:

Clerk of the Court
United States District Court
Re: Turney v. IDOC, Case No. 1:18-cv-00001-BLW
550 W. Fort Street, No. 400
Boise, ID 83724

Each written objection must state (1) whether it applies only to the prisoner who is filing the objection or to a specific subset of the class, or to the entire class; and (2) details of the specific grounds for the objection. See: Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(e)(5). Each objection will be made part of the record.

The Notice of Objection form can be obtained by submitting an Access to Courts Request form. Objection forms must be mailed to the Court by the Objection Deadline. All Notice of Objection forms will be filed in the Courts public docket and automatically provided to each of the attorneys of record. Written objections will not be confidential.

Further, any Class member who desires to be heard at the Fairness Hearing must file a Request to Make a Statement [opposing/or in favor of] the Settlement Agreement which must contain the content of the statement the Class member desires to make at the hearing. The Court will consider all statements in its final decision but may limited the number of statements made at the hearing in its discretion, as a matter of judicial efficiency. All written statements will be made part of the record.

The proposed settlement was reached and approved by Defendants and by Class counsel.

The Court has appointed Reuben Cortes as Class representative to represent the Class.