Washington’s Whatcom County Jail Agrees To Settlement Providing MAT To Inmates With Opioid Use Disorder

On April 30, 2019, Whatcom County and the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office agreed to provide medication assisted treatment (MAT) via Suboxone, Subutex and Vivitrol for jail inmates with opioid use disorder (OUD) inorder to settle a federal lawsuit. The settlement agreement called for the Whatcom County Jail to implement policies for medically assisted withdrawal for opioid withdrawal, maintenance of community-based MAT, and induction of MAT for inmates diagnosed with OUD and not currently on MAT. The Whatcom County Jail and Work Center have a combined average daily inmate census of 310.

The county has been implementing the provisions . . .