Executions may be on hold, but Arizona death row inmates are still dying. Since executions were put on hold in 2014, five Arizona death row inmates have died of natural causes. The Arizona Republic reports that all five deaths were related to Hepatitis C.
The most recent to die, Brian Dann, had sued to be treated with expensive anti-viral drugs. He eventually got the drugs, but the disease was so advanced he died anyway.
The Arizona Department of Corrections says about 15 percent of inmates have Hep C. Others put the percentage as high as 80 percent.