Medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) is a medically necessary, lifesaving treatment. Unfortunately, jails frequently refuse to provide it to people who are incarcerated. Following a successful lawsuit against the Grand Traverse County Jail for this very failure, in February 2022 the ACLU of Michigan sent a letter to every county in Michigan advising them that a refusal to provide this medication would violate the Eighth Amendment and the Americans with Disabilities Act. After receiving reports that the medication continues to be unavailable or restricted in the Macomb County Jail, in June 2022 we sent a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for its policies related to MOUD. The county failed to provide the requested records, so in October 2022 we filed suit. In November 2022 the county finally turned over the policies, and in February 2023 the case was settled when the county agreed to pay our attorneys’ fees. (ACLU of Michigan v. Macomb County; ACLU Attorneys Syeda Davidson and Dan Korobkin.)
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