The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan (ACLU), and global law firm Goodwin Procter, filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Cyrus Patson, a 20-year-old Traverse City resident, to ensure access to his prescribed medication for treatment of opioid use disorder when he expects to be incarcerated.
The lawsuit is over the Grand Traverse County Jail’s policy on not providing medication for those with a opioid use disorder.
The ACLU also filed an emergency motion to change this policy.
“The jail did give Cyrus his medications for other disorders, they only didn’t give him the medication for opioid use disorder,” said ACLU Michigan Senior Staff Attorney Syeda Davidson. “Meaning that their policy discriminates against people with this specific disability and that violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.”
Davidson says the policy also violates the 8th Amendment.
“The 8th Amendment of our constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, that includes denying somebody their medications, and especially in this case where denying the medications causes extreme physical and psychological pain,” she said.
The ACLU’s lawsuit alleging the Grand Traverse County Jail doesn’t give opioid use disorder medication to their inmates is something the group Families Against Narcotics has noticed.
“There are surrounding communities that are addressing [the need for opioid use disorder medication] to the point where if a patient comes in with a legitimate prescription for a medication-assisted treatment, that those communities are then providing that patient with those prescriptions,” said Dr. Lyn Conlon of “FAN”.
Dr. Conlon says the incarcerated population is one of the most at risk.
“Most people are protected from the ravages of poverty, of stress, of lacking, what plays into it is a lot of PTSD factors and this is then what we see in the incarcerated population,” she said.
Medication is usually supplemented with support from family and therapy, but without medication in a place where those resources are limited, it can be difficult.
“Depending upon the dose they’re on, they go through a petty hellacious withdraw.”
And it’s an issue counties see nationwide.
“Some counties are, ‘Sure let’s help these folks out.’ Others are, ‘Nope it’s not politically what we want to do.’ It’s unfortunate because who’s in the middle is the inmate.”
Davidson says these policies are rooted in stigma, not science.
“The science is pretty clear that the only way to treat opioid use disorder is to provide medication for opioid use disorder,” she said.
9&10 News reached out to the Grand Traverse County Sheriff and County Administrator. Both have said they do not wish to comment.
The county has until Nov. 5 to respond to the ACLU’s emergency motion.
FAN meets the first Thursday of the month from 6:00-8:00pm at Central United Methodist Church.
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