A Massachusetts judge has ruled that a lawsuit filed against the state over concerns regarding treatment at Bridgewater State Hospital may move forward.

The suit alleges that state officials discriminate against the most severely mentally ill men by sending them to a facility run by the Department of Correction, not the Department of Mental Health.

Attorney General Maura Healy argued that the lawsuit should be dropped because mentally ill patients are not treated “any differently from similarly situated inmates who are not mentally disabled.”

Judge Paul Wilson wrote in his May 12 ruling that he was persuaded that DMH facilities provide more complete mental health care and that conditions at Bridgewater State may violate the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

DOC officials declined to comment.