Pickton to be moved to federal penitentiary within week

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Pickton to be moved to federal penitentiary within week

Lori Culbert , CanWest News ServicePublished: Thursday, December 27, 2007

VANCOUVER - Inmates who have hepatitis C, such as (Willie) Pickton, often recover better in prison than they did before being incarcerated, says a Vancouver doctor who runs clinics in B.C. correctional facilities.

Dr. Farley is one of a handful of doctors who go into prisons to treat inmates with the virus, which attacks the liver and is usually transmitted through blood.

"The correction institutions offer some aspects of stability . . . and we have over the last few years had quite a good program," said Farley, who has been doing this work for five years.

"The results compare quite favourably, probably even better, than many of the published studies as to how people respond to treatment for hep C even outside of the prison system."

Pickton, who was convicted earlier this month of second-degree murder in the deaths of six women, likely contracted hepatitis C while in hospital, a police officer testified at his trial.

It's unlikely Pickton got the illness from a needle, as witnesses testified he doesn't do drugs.

There is a minimum 15-day waiting period after offenders are sentenced before they're moved to a federal penitentiary. Pickton, who was sentenced Dec. 11 to life in prison without parole for 25 years, has lived in the North Fraser Pre-Trial Centre since his arrest in February 2002.

"Between now and the next week or so he will most definitely be inside federal custody," Dennis Finlay, of the Correctional Service of Canada, said Thursday.

For security reasons, Finlay wouldn't reveal exactly when Pickton will be moved or where he will be taken. It also isn't known if Pickton will undergo the standard 11-week assessment for new offenders at the medium security Pacific Institution in Matsqui, B.C.

"In some cases where, for whatever reasons - whether it's a risk or a security issue - we may conduct that assessment at a different institution," said Finlay.

Pickton's hepatitis C status likely shouldn't affect what prison he goes to, since Farley said most institutions are equipped to handle the illness.

Anywhere from 30 per cent to 50 per cent of the Canadian prison population is estimated to have chronic hepatitis C.

For many inmates, who often contract the virus by sharing needles, prison is the first time they can get stable medical treatment and learn about healthy behaviours, Farley said.

He said the diet in prisons is not perfect, but can often be better than what the inmates ate before being incarcerated. Exercise, he added, is also important - although it can be limited by their level of security.

Farley said providing treatment in prisons can save the health system money by reducing the care inmates will need once released, and by ultimately limiting the need for liver transplants.

Clinics similar to Farley's are run in some prisons in Ontario and Alberta, but in other provinces inmates have to go to doctor's offices, he said.

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