Today, the Network for Public Health Law, Mountain State Justice, Inc., March of Dimes, Cabin Creek Health Systems, and several pre-eminent West Virginia health experts — including Dr. Cathy Slemp, the former acting state health officer — filed a friend-of-the-court (or “amici”) brief in support of our clients’ lawsuit requesting a federal court in Huntington to issue a preliminary injunction enjoining the enforcement of Senate Bill 334.
Senate Bill 334 is one of the most restrictive harm reduction laws in the country. If it goes into effect, amici note, it “would have immediate and devastating effects on the health of West Virginians, including increases in opioid overdose, HIV and hepatitis infections, and preventable deaths.”
The full list of amici include:
- The Network for Public Health Law
- Mountain State Justice, Inc.
- March of Dimes
- Cabin Creek Health Systems
- Judith Feinberg, MD, Vice Chair of Medicine for Research at the WVU School of Medicine and a national expert on the connection between injection drug use and infectious diseases
- Robert H. Hansen, MS, the former Director of the West Virginia Office of Drug Control Policy and the current CEO of Prestera Center
- Daniel J. Lauffer, PA-C, FACHE, Chief Executive Officer of Thomas Health, and a member of the HIV Task Force Committee of the Kanawha Charleston Health Department
- Craig Robinson, MPH, Executive Director of Cabin Creek Health Systems
- Catherine Slemp, MD, MPH, former Commissioner and State Health Officer for the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health, and former Acting State Health Officer and Preparedness Director
- Christine Teague, PharmD, MPH, AAHIVP, Director for the Charleston Area Medical Center’s Ryan White Part C HIV Program
A hearing on our clients’ motion for a preliminary injunction will be held on Thursday, July 8, in Huntington.