Family of woman who died after contracting cancer in prison settles lawsuit with VitalCore

The family of a woman who died of cancer has reached a legal settlement with a Mississippi prison system healthcare provider she sued in federal court claiming it failed to diagnose and treat her disease until it spread.

Susie Balfour died of breast cancer last year at the age of 64. Her lawsuit said exposure to cleaning chemicals in prison might have led to her cancer, and that prison health providers delayed or failed to schedule follow-up cancer screenings for Balfour even though they had been recommended by prison physicians. She only learned about the disease two weeks before her 2021 release from prison after serving more than 30 years.

Balfour sued three companies contracted to provide health care to prisoners at the facility over the course of her sentence — Wexford Health Sources, Centurion Health and VitalCore, the current prison medical provider. In an order handed down last week, U.S. Southern District Judge Kristi H. Johnson wrote that Balfour’s family had reached a settlement with VitalCore.

“This is one step in the fight to get justice for Susie, and for everyone who continues to be incarcerated and denied life saving care,” Balfour’s sister said in a statement to Mississippi Today. “We will not stop until those responsible are held accountable. These corporations choose profits over patients, and we intend to make sure those responsible for such inhumane greed answer for it.”

Balfour’s attorneys said they could not reveal specific terms of the settlement.

Wexford was dismissed as a defendant, while Balfour’s family intends to continue its lawsuit against Centurion. The companies have argued they followed laws with respect to the provision of health care to prisoners. A trial could begin in September or October. Balfour died in Shelby County, Tennessee, so a probate court needs to approve the settlement with VitalCore, Johnson wrote in her order.

Kansas-based VitalCore has settled other litigation from former prisoners alleging inadequate care, and some lawmakers have attempted to pass laws that could lead to its replacement as the prison medical contractor. It has recieved hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds for its work as Mississippi’s prison health contractor.

A spokesperson for VitalCore did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the settlement.

During more than 30 years of incarceration, Balfour used cleaning chemicals without protective gear, which likely contributed to her cancer, she argued in the federal lawsuit she filed in 2024.  

She placed blame on the prison health system’s current and former healthcare providers for failing to diagnose and treat the cancer for years, including not taking her for recommended mammograms and waiting until 2021 to take a biopsy, which ultimately confirmed the diagnosis. 

“I just want everybody to be held accountable,” Balfour told Mississippi Today in 2024. “… and I just want justice for myself and other ladies and men in there who are dealing with the same situation I am dealing with.”

Similar cancer diagnoses and delayed care might not have been isolated to Balfour. An earlier version of her lawsuit alleged at least 15 other incarcerated women contracted cancer after using cleaning materials at the Mississippi women’s prison, the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, and similarly had their diagnoses and care withheld, but some of those women were not plaintiffs in the lawsuit. 

Balfour’s family continued her lawsuit after her death. The court allowed her to give a deposition months before her passing to preserve her testimony for the case. Shirley Balfour, who is the executor of her late sister’s estate, took over as the plaintiff in the suit. Balfour’s son, Duwan, also joined the lawsuit as the wrongful death beneficiary. 

Balfour’s story also led to legislative reform that could protect future Mississippi prisoners from suffering a similar fate.

When Rep. Justis Gibbs, a Democrat from Jackson, caught wind of her story, he drafted legislation during the 2025 session to require protective equipment for prisoners. The bill died in the Senate, but he tried again this year, and the first-term Democrat ultimately advanced the only prison health care reform to survive legislative negotiations this session. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed the bill into law this April.

The Senate this year again blocked most of the proposals to improve healthcare in Mississippi’s prisons, which were driven in part by findings from an ongoing Mississippi Today investigation.

Rep. Becky Currie, the House Corrections chairwoman driving the push for reforms, said she will try again next session.

Balfour was convicted of capital murder in 1989 for shooting Southaven Police Lt. Billy Lance, who stopped her and her boyfriend after a convenience store robbery. She received a death sentence, but it was overturned years later because the Mississippi Supreme Court found her constitutional rights were violated during trial.

She accepted a plea agreement for a lesser charge and was resentenced, her attorney said.

Instead of getting the chance to rebuild her life, Balfour was released with a death sentence, said Pauline Rogers, executive director of the RECH Foundation, who has highlighed Balfour’s case.

“Susie didn’t just survive prison, she came out fighting,” Rogers said in an earlier statement. “She spent her final years demanding justice, not just for herself, but for the women still inside. She knew her time was limited, but her courage was limitless.”