Judge blocks Ohio AIDS-drug rule change

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- An Ohio judge has temporarily blocked the state from enacting a new rule AIDS patients say could prevent them from getting life-saving medicine.

Common Pleas Court Judge Timothy S. Horton issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday blocking the Ohio Department of Health from changing part of the state's HIV Drug Assistance program that would reduce eligibility to individuals making 100 percent of the poverty level from the current 300 percent, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

The human immunodeficiency virus is the cause of AIDS.

Three patients filed a lawsuit challenging the rule, saying the department did not follow its own procedures including public notification about the proposed changes.

There are 5,588 people enrolled statewide in the program, which has $25 million in funding this year.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said the rule change was intended to kick in only when there is a waiting list, and was not meant to restrict access to treatment and medication.

"These rules were meant to do just the opposite," spokeswoman Tessie Pollack said. "If there is a wait list again, we want to move the sickest people who need the medication immediately into the program."