Nelson v. Bolling et al.

On November 13, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama ruled on preliminary motions in Nelson v. Bolling, a civil rights class action. Plaintiff Terry Nelson, an Alabama inmate with chronic Hepatitis C, sued Alabama Department of Corrections officials including Grant Bolling and Jefferson S. Dunn. Nelson alleged that the defendants’ policy of denying direct-acting antiviral treatment to inmates, unless they showed advanced liver damage, constituted deliberate indifference to a serious medical need in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss, finding that Nelson had adequately stated a claim. The ruling allowed the litigation to proceed toward class certification, aiming to represent all similarly situated prisoners denied the life-saving medication.

The defendants’ motion to dismiss was denied. The court held that the plaintiff plausibly alleged an Eighth Amendment violation, allowing the case to move forward and for the plaintiff to seek class certification.

Whether the Alabama Department of Corrections’ refusal to provide direct-acting antiviral treatment for Hepatitis C to inmates without advanced liver damage constitutes deliberate indifference to a serious medical need, violating the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

The case drew national attention to the widespread denial of Hepatitis C treatment in U.S. prisons. It pressured Alabama and other state correctional systems to revise their medical protocols, expand access to curative drugs, and reduce inmate mortality, reinforcing the constitutional duty to provide adequate healthcare to prisoners.