L.A. County jails fail inmates as addiction treatment delays cost lives

L.A. County has faced criticism for its handling of addiction treatment in jails. Despite receiving funds and allocating budgets, delays in care have led to preventable deaths. Inmates often wait weeks or months for life-saving medication-assisted treatment. In 2025, overdoses accounted for about a quarter of the 46 in-custody deaths in L.A. County jails. One of those was Daejon Morgan, who died from a fentanyl and heroin overdose while waiting for medication-assisted treatment. The county had previously received an $8 million settlement earmarked for addiction programmes but spent it on unrelated jail costs.

This year, L.A. County set aside $25 million for medication-assisted treatment in its jails. Yet, inmates still face long waits for care. Some spend weeks or months just to obtain the medical form needed to request treatment. Others remain on waitlists that can stretch to hundreds of names.

The lack of adequate drug treatment in county jails has been ruled unconstitutional. Delays in access to medication-assisted treatment have directly contributed to overdoses and deaths among inmates. The risk of dying in custody has also risen sharply, with inmates now roughly three times more likely to die in 2025 than in 2016. The county’s failure to use allocated funds properly has worsened the crisis. Inmates continue to die while waiting for treatment that could save their lives. Officials now face pressure to address the delays and ensure programmes receive the funding they need.