{"id":381096,"date":"2025-11-15T16:38:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T16:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/381096\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T16:38:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T16:38:23","slug":"l-a-jails-restrict-opioid-treatment-as-fatal-overdoses-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/381096\/","title":{"rendered":"L.A. jails restrict opioid treatment as fatal overdoses continue"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Cayla Mihalovich<\/a>, CalMatters<\/p>\n

This story was originally published by CalMatters<\/a>. Sign up<\/a> for their newsletters.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles County jails pared back access to life-saving opioid addiction<\/a> treatment this fall during one of the system\u2019s deadliest years on record, according to records obtained by CalMatters and interviews with staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The policy change came one week after Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against the county<\/a> over \u201cinhumane\u201d conditions across its jail system, citing a \u201cshocking rate of deaths,\u201d including overdoses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In interviews with CalMatters, two Correctional Health Services physicians expressed alarm over the reductions, saying that even the slightest delay in treatment is \u201cwildly dangerous\u201d and can lead to more fatal overdoses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPatients are begging me for help,\u201d said a physician who spoke with CalMatters on the condition of anonymity because of fear of professional retaliation. \u201cI\u2019m on edge, waiting to see if someone is going to die.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reduction in treatment also comes as the jails hold about 700 more people every day as a result of a tough-on-crime ballot measure voters approved last year. Proposition 36 increased sentences<\/a> for certain drug and theft crimes, leading to a surge in jail populations and straining county resources, according to a Sept. 10 Correctional Health Services memo to the Board of Supervisors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Los Angeles County allocates roughly $25 million annually for the treatment program. County supervisors this year gave the program an additional $8 million from opioid lawsuit settlements. That sum ultimately did not increase funding for treatment because the county shifted an equivalent amount of money\u00a0to a different need, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe overall (medication-assisted treatment) program funding remained the same\u201d despite the extra money the department received, the statement reads.<\/p>\n

In a Sept. 16 memo obtained by CalMatters, Chief Medical Officer Sean Henderson said Correctional Health Services \u201cwill be taking a pause on primary care in ordering buprenorphine.\u201d The medication reduces cravings and prevents overdoses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new mandate restricts how quickly and broadly Correctional Health Services physicians can prescribe the medication. Priority will be given to people when they first enter the jail system \u2014 the largest in California \u2014 which houses roughly 13,000 people across nine main facilities. Everyone else who wants medication will be placed on a waitlist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s misleading because we just put people on this list and then they stay on the list,\u201d said a physician.<\/p>\n

That means that if someone does not accept treatment upon arrival, they won\u2019t be able to access it during the remainder of their incarceration, even if they change their mind, said both physicians who spoke with CalMatters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Legal experts and physicians say there could be a myriad of reasons why people deny treatment when they\u2019re first arrested and incarcerated. For example, a person could be unfit to make medical decisions if they are in active withdrawal.<\/p>\n

Waitlist grew for opioid treatment<\/p>\n

Between 2,350 and 2,650 incarcerated people in Los Angeles County receive medication-assisted treatment on any given day, said the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services in an email to CalMatters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As of Sept. 15 \u2014 just one day before the policy change went into effect \u2014 363 people were on a waiting list for treatment, the department said.<\/p>\n

But that number skyrocketed to 835 people as of Oct. 31. The total includes 471 newcomers who have never been on the program; the remainder are people who asked to re-enroll after dropping out. As of October, the average wait time is 25 days, the department said. The department declined to answer how long the person waiting the longest has been in line for treatment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a statement to CalMatters, the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services said the policy change was intended \u201cto help maximize the reach of (its) treatment program within the jails by leveraging the existing medical staff in the (Inmate Reception Center) where patient traffic is constant.\u201d<\/p>\n

The department maintained that medication-assisted treatment is \u201cstill available for all inmates, including those who may have declined treatment when they first arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLength of incarceration varies for each inmate, from just a handful of days for some and many months for others; whether an individual will access (medication-assisted treatment) during their incarceration is based on their personal choice, unique case and the length of time they will remain incarcerated,” wrote the department.<\/p>\n

Melissa Camacho, a senior staff attorney at ACLU of Southern California, said the reduction in treatment is \u201cmind boggling\u201d in a year where there are record-breaking deaths.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to know how many people who died from overdose deaths were on the waiting list,\u201d she said. \u201cHaving a waitlist doesn\u2019t matter if the waitlist is too long to get treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

More money for L.A. jail health care<\/p>\n

Medication-assisted treatment combines counseling with FDA-approved medications, including buprenorphine, methadone and naltrexone to treat certain substance use disorders. A 2021 report from the National Commission on Correctional Health Care found that drug and alcohol overdoses constitute the third leading cause of death in jails, following illness and suicide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Los Angeles County was an early adopter of medication-assisted treatment in its jails. Since the program\u2019s inception in 2021, roughly 25,000 incarcerated people have been treated with Suboxone, an oral form of buprenorphine administered daily by medical professionals. But reliance on Suboxone alone proved to be challenging because of staffing limitations, said the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services in an email to CalMatters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why, according to Correctional Health Services physicians, the current regimen only allows someone to access Suboxone for 30 days when they first arrive in custody. After that, they can receive a long-acting injectable form of buprenorphine that\u2019s administered once a month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since July 2022, nearly 40,000 doses of injectable buprenorphine \u2014 which cost roughly $1,600 per shot \u2014 have been administered to incarcerated people, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a Sept. 10 memo to the Board of Supervisors, Correctional Health Services\u2019 Director Christina Ghaly said overdose deaths constitute at least 28% of deaths this year. That\u2019s a steep increase since 2016, when they accounted for 9% of in-custody deaths.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOf all the medical care that we offer in the jail, opioid use disorder treatment is by far and away the most life-saving measure we provide,\u201d said a second physician who spoke with CalMatters on the condition of anonymity because of fear of professional retaliation. \u201cIt seems paramount to protect these services.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘It seems like it’s backtracking’<\/p>\n

In a written statement, the Los Angeles County Chief Executive Office said the county increased funding for health care in jails by $33 million last year to $580 million. The office said the county has been making improvements to the jails that collectively expanded access to care.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is true that critical unmet needs remain, and the county is focused on working with (the county health department and jail health care) to meet their highest priority needs in an environment of extremely limited local funding and service reductions to public facing services across multiple departments,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s lawsuit against the jail system claims Los Angeles County and Correctional Health Services failed \u201cto address the unconscionable mass overdose incidents occurring inside (its) jails\u201d and limited access to the medication-assisted treatment program.<\/p>\n

According to the lawsuit, three dozen in-custody deaths \u2014 approximately one per week \u2014 had taken place in Los Angeles County jails this year by the time of the filing. At that rate, the lawsuit stated, this year will account for the highest number of in-custody deaths over the past 20 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough (medication-assisted treatment) is known to prevent opioid related overdose and deaths and reduce recidivism, (Correctional Health Services) has an exceedingly long waitlist and failed to offer continued maintenance of medication,\u201d the attorney general\u2019s office wrote in the complaint.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersons in custody who have overdosed report not having access to (medication-assisted treatment) or receiving their initial dose of the medication but then being placed on a waitlist for access to follow-up medication, with a delay possibly causing a relapse and avoidable withdrawal symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark Benor worked as a Correctional Health Services physician from 2018 until 2023, as the department was ramping up its medication-assisted treatment program. During that time, he said he became known as \u201cthe Suboxone doctor\u201d as he traveled all over the jails to interview people who wanted to participate in the program and submit orders for their treatment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey created something that is impressive in the biggest jail system in the world,\u201d he said. \u201cIt seems like it\u2019s backtracking.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was updated to clarify how Los Angeles County used opioid lawsuit settlement money to fund addiction treatment in its jails.<\/p>\n

Cayla Mihalovich is a California Local News fellow.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on CalMatters<\/a> and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives<\/a> license.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Cayla Mihalovich, CalMatters This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Los Angeles…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":381097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[25146,210,1141,1142,2936,224,6080,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-381096","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-criminal-justice","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-health-care","11":"tag-healthcare","12":"tag-law-enforcement","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-los-angeles-county","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115554701198584237","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}