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Federal court rules denying methadone to inmates may violate law
Author(s) -
Knopf Alison
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
alcoholism and drug abuse weekly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1556-7591
pISSN - 1042-1394
DOI - 10.1002/adaw.32187
Subject(s) - law , constitution , federal court , punishment (psychology) , methadone , political science , federal law , criminology , supreme court , psychology , psychiatry , legislation , social psychology
Last week, a federal court in Massachusetts granted a preliminary injunction requiring that a patient who is incarcerated be provided continued access to his methadone treatment. This is the first federal court in the country to find that denying ongoing medication treatment to incarcerated individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) can violate the law under both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.