EXIST TO TREAT HEPATITIS C IN PRISON - 10 29 97, Orange County Register

Conceding that 41 percent of inmates are infected with the potentially fatal hepatitis C virus, state officials told lawmakers in Sacramento on Tuesday that there is no quick-fix plan for addressing the problem.

At the interim hearing by the Senate Public Safety subcommittee on Prison Construction and Operations, Sen. Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles, grilled officials from the state health and corrections departments about why there is no plan for screening and treatment of hepatitis C. Health department officials said they are awaiting development of a national plan.