PHILADELPHIA - A federal judge in Pennsylvania has mandated that the state should provide expensive new medication to former death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal to treat his hepatitis C infection.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Abu-Jamal sued to improve the health care he was receiving in prison after he fell into diabetic shock and was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2015.

The former Black Panther spent 29 years on death row following his conviction in the 1981 murder of white Philadelphia police Officer Daniel Faulkner. Abu-Jamal's sentence was reduced to life without parole in 2011.

Judge Robert Mariani on Tuesday ordered that a doctor see Abu-Jamal to determine whether there is a medical reason he shouldn't get the treatment drugs, which can range from $50,000 to $75,000 per person or more.