Prisons hit by rising AIDS costs

CHICAGO, Nov. 3 (UPI) _ A published report says medical costs have soared
in Illinois prisons in the last year as hundreds of inmates have been
treated for AIDS with a combination of drugs to fight the disease, the
leading cause of death behind bars.

Prison officials told the Chicago SunTimes today that the cost of AIDS
drugs has jumped from $30,000 a month to $300,000 a month over the last
couple of years.

The state's prisons have 633 inmates who are known to carry the AIDS virus.

In 1994, Illinois taxpayers spent $600,000 annually to buy AIDS drugs for
prisoners. This year, the state spent that amount in just two months.

Illinois prisons spend between $8 million and $9 million annually filling
prescriptions for prisoners. A prison spokesman was unable to give the
SunTimes an exact figure, he said, because the exact figure is ``buried in
various contracts.''

State Rep. Cal Skinner, RCrystal Lake, was not surprised by the figures.

Skinner told the newspaper, ``Why should anybody be surprised that the
Department of Corrections has high costs for the treatment of HIV when the
department... has done nothing significant to stop it?''

Skinner said most prisoners crave sex and drugs when released from prison,
both primary modes of transmission, and is worried inmates will spread the
HIV virus into their communities upon release.

Skinner suspects that many more of the 38,000 Illinois prisoners than the
633 known AIDS victims carry the human immunodeficiency virus and is
calling for mandatory testing so the state can segregate and treat
prisoners infected with the deadly virus.

Copyright 1997 by United Press International.