Prisoners’ Damages Class OK’d in Suit Over Opioid Withdrawal

Litigation over a prison healthcare provider’s alleged deliberate indifference to opioid-addicted prisoners’ medical needs can proceed as a class action, a federal appeals court said.

A class action appeared to be the best way to litigate claims that Wexford Health Sources Inc. violated opioid-addicted prisoners’ Eighth and 14th Amendment rights by refusing to provide them with medication-assisted treatment, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, said Monday. Class members were easily identifiable through Wexford’s medical records and shared common questions of fact and law, Judge Nicole G. Berner said in an opinion for the unanimous three-judge panel.

Wexford ...