HUNTINGTON – A potential federal class action lawsuit has been filed accusing a prison health care provider of routinely denying thousands of people medication to treat Opioid Use Disorder.
The complaint was filed July 7 in federal court against Wexford Health Sources Inc. There are three named plaintiffs – Lauren Spurlock, Heather Smith and Shawn Zmudzinski – who claim Wexford “intentionally subjects patients entrusted to its care to significant pain and suffering and an elevated risk of drug relapse and overdose death.”
The complaint says OUD is a chronic brain disease that “rewires the brain,” resulting in uncontrollable cravings for and use of opioids. Without treatment, it says individuals are frequently unable to control their use of opioids, resulting in overdose and death. It says methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone are the only treatments proven to reduce opioid addition and symptoms of OUD.
“Jails and prisons are the epicenter of the opioid epidemic,” the complaint states. “Studies show that up to 65% of incarcerated people have a substance abuse disorder and up to 25% of these inmates suffer from OUD. One study found that incarcerated people are 129 times more likely to die from an overdose in the first two weeks after release compared to the general population.”
The complaint says Wexford serves as a medical contractor for more than 100 jails and prisons across the country, including West Virginia. It says Wexford has no medical justification to deny medications for OUD (or MOUD), but it says Wexford does so purely for profit.
“But this decision saves Wexford millions of dollars in medical expenses each year,” the complaint states. “For every 10,000 patients who need MOUD, for example, the company’s policy of denying them methadone and buprenorphine saves Wexford approximately $62.4 million per year.”
The 44-page complaint also details the stories of the three name plaintiffs.
Spurlock is a Huntington resident. She was jailed in early 2023 for possession of opioids and was released May 11, 2023. She told Wexford personnel at Western Regional Jail of her addiction and her need for treatment, but she says Wexford failed to provide proper care and MOUD. She says she experienced “terrible withdrawal” including pain, difficulty sleeping, nausea and other physical discomfort.
Smith was jailed at South Central Regional Jail in Charleston in January 2023. She showed Wexford staffers her MOUD prescription, but she still was denied the medication. She says she suffered terrible withdrawal as well, including pain, jerking in her legs so severe she was unable to sleep, sweating, nausea and cravings for drugs.
Zmudzinski became addicted to opioids growing up in New Mexico. When he was jailed in his home state, he says Wexford officials denied his access to his MOUD. He says he experienced excruciating pain, diarrhea, constipation, chills, cold sweats and the inability to eat or sleep. He feared suffering a fourth heart attack, and he says his cravings returned.
The plaintiffs accuse Wexford of negligence and of violating the Eighth Amendment and 14th Amendment with deliberate indifference to their medical needs. In addition to have the class certified, the plaintiffs seek compensatory damages for pain and suffering, punitive damages, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
The plaintiffs are being represented by W. Jesse Forbes of Forbes Law Offices in Charleston and L. Dante diTrapano of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston as well as by Anna C. Haac, Lauren A. Kuhlik and Gemma Seidita of Tycko & Zavareei in Washington, D.C. The case has been assigned to District Judge Robert C. “Chuck” Chambers.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 3:23-cv-00476