A local doctor who has been providing virtual health care to inmates at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary for the last three years says he’s concerned their human rights are being denied.

Dr. Todd Young who operates Medicuro, an online clinic out of Springdale, says inmates who aren’t already in treatment, can’t get permission for an appointment to meet virtually or in-person.

The Department of Justice says all health care providers at HMP resumed seeing patients in-person in July, but Dr. Young says while access to existing addictions patients has been ongoing, new inmates will not get permission for an appointment to meet virtually.

He says 77 to 89 per cent of the inmate population has mental health or addictions issues according to a government-commissioned study released just over a year ago.

Dr. Young indicates that access to addiction treatment is a human right that should not be ignored, and he’s calling on the health minister, justice minister, and Premier Furey to address it immediately.

Meanwhile, Cindy Murphy, the executive director of the John Howard Society, says this will have an impact on inmates coming into the corrections system who are opioid dependent and can’t get access to methadone treatment.

She calls that a serious problem, especially for those suffering withdrawal.

That can be very painful, and result in an overdose for those who have been off for a while and go back to the same amount they were using before withdrawal.