Case: Melnik v. Aranas

On September 5, 2017, plaintiff, a person incarcerated in the custody of the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC), initiated this lawsuit (pro se, initially) by filing a motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. By direction of the court, plaintiff's complaint was docketed on July 2, 2018.  Plaintiff sued the Medical Director of NDOC, alleging that he was denied treatment for Hepatitis C virus (HCV) from 2015-2017, even though he was eligible for treatment under NDOC's Medical Directive and his disease was progressing.  He claimed that the failure to provide appropriate HCV treatment constituted deliberate indifference toward his serious medical need, in violation of the Eighth Amendment.  The case was assigned to Judge James C. Mahan.

The facts underlying the complaint were as follows. Plaintiff was diagnosed with HCV in 2006 while incarcerated at Southern District Correctional Facility in Nevada. Between 2006 and 2014, he was not treated using the existing interferon-based medications. Once the FDA approved Direct-Acting Antiviral (DAA) drugs in 2014, plaintiff asked the medical providers at High Desert State Prison where he was then incarcerated, for DAA treatment. In April 2015, plaintiff was transferred to Ely State Prison and re-tested for HCV. His APRI score was also tested, and it was above 2.0, which was NDOC's required threshold to start DAA treatment. However, between his re-testing in 2015 and January 2017, plaintiff was denied DAA treatment on at least three occasions. In December 2016 and June 2017, plaintiff received ultrasounds that confirmed his HCV had progressed to cirrhosis of the liver.

On June 10, 2019, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment, which Judge Mahan granted on February 28, 2020. Judge Mahan reasoned that the medical director was entitled to qualified immunity because the plaintiff did not meet the burden of showing that he had a "clearly established" right to DAA treatment. 2020 WL 977787.

Plaintiff filed a notice of appeal on March 18, 2020 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The case was argued before Judges William A. Fletcher, Eric D. Miller, and Mary M. Schroeder. On December 6, 2021, the panel issued an order reversing and remanding the District Court's judgment. In their unpublished opinion, the Court stated that by 2016, when the medical director became involved in plaintiff's HCV treatment, he had adequate notice that denying HCV treatment for non-medical reasons violates the Eighth Amendment. 2021 WL 5768468.

On remand, the district court vacated its prior judgment in an opinion on March 10, 2022, and the parties decided to work toward a private settlement agreement. On August 22, 2023, the parties filed a stipulation to dismiss, which Judge Mahan granted on August 25, 2023. The case is now closed.