JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Inmates at a Mississippi prison were forced to mix raw cleaning chemicals without protective equipment, with one alleging she later contracted terminal cancer and was denied timely medical care, a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges.
Susan Balfour, 62, was incarcerated for 33 years at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility until her release in December 2021. Prisoners were required to clean the facility, without protective equipment, using chemicals that might cause cancer, Balfour’s lawsuit says.
Balfour contracted terminal breast cancer, a condition that prison health care providers failed to identify years ago because they could save money by not performing necessary medical screenings and treatment, the lawsuit filed in the U.S. Southern District of Mississippi contends.
“I feel betrayed by our system that failed to provide timely medical care for me. I feel hopeless, I feel angry, I feel bitterness. I feel shock and disbelief of this going on with me at a time when I’m getting ready to get out (of prison),” Balfour said in an interview Tuesday. “It is too much to take in, that this is happening to me.”
Erica Hill, pictured, holds a photo of her mother Barbara, who is currently incarcerated, at a press conference outside of the Thad Cochran United States Courthouse in Jackson, Miss., on Feb. 14, 2024. Photo by Shaunicy Muhammad
The companies contracted to provide health care to prisoners at the facility — Wexford Health Sources, Centurion Health and VitalCore — delayed or failed to schedule follow-up cancer screenings for Balfour even though they had been recommended by prison physicians, the lawsuit says.
All three companies did not immediately respond to email and phone messages seeking comment. A spokesperson for the Mississippi Department of Corrections said the agency would not comment on active litigation.
The lawsuit, which seeks compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at a trial, says at least 15 other unidentified people incarcerated at the prison have cancer and are not receiving life-saving care.
One of Balfour’s lawyers, Drew Tominello, said in an interview that her attorneys had not established with certainty that exposure to
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