Pennsylvania prison officials say they will soon begin giving expensive new medication to former death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal to treat his hepatitis C infection.
The Department of Corrections told a federal judge Friday that Abu-Jamal will be treated with an antiviral medication that can cost $50,000 to $60,000 per patient. Treatment will start next week.
Abu-Jamal filed suit in 2015 over his medical care. In January, Judge Robert Mariani ruled that Abu-Jamal had a right to the hepatitis C drugs.
Corrections spokeswoman Amy Worden says inmates are prioritized for treatment based on the progression of the disease. She says based on recent testing, he's now eligible.
The former Black Panther spent 29 years on death row for the 1981 murder of white Philadelphia police Officer Daniel Faulkner. His sentence was reduced to life without parole in 2011.
