Image: Adobe Stock The ACLU of North Carolina has settled a lawsuit with the N.C. Department of Public Safety to improve the testing and treatment of Hepatitis C in state prisons. A federal judge approved the settlement Monday. Hepatitis C is a liver infection caused by a virus. It is transmissible through blood contact or sharing items including syringes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It was the deadliest infectious disease in the United States prior to the COVID pandemic. The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of three incarcerated people in 2018. Back then, the Department of Safety only treated patients whose symptoms have progressed to severe liver scarring and fibrosis, the initial complaint stated.