evidence: The Indiana emergency peaked during Pence’s governorship, when public health officials noticed a cluster of HIV and hepatitis C in rural Indiana around November 2014. It was the largest outbreak of the virus in the state’s history, NPR reported at the time. [...] Appearing on Fox News Thursday night, Pence defended his actions as governor, stating, "Indiana would go on to change the law to mirror what action I had taken, but it was a moment where we had brought all of the resources to bear, first from a health perspective, a law enforcement perspective, and I’m glad to say that we got all of those people treated." [...] After this story published, Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who served as Indiana’s state health commissioner during the HIV crisis, said efforts taken by himself and Pence served as an example to other states in handling an HIV outbreak.