Woman gave birth to stillborn after Central KY jail denied her medication, lawsuit says
A woman is suing the Madison County Detention Center and its health care provider after she says they refused to provide her prescribed methadone treatment, leading to a stillborn birth while she was 38 weeks pregnant.
Valentina Frymyer, 29, gave birth just five days after entering the Richmond jail last year. The lawsuit, filed Monday, claims the jail's lack of medical care caused withdrawals, pushing her into early labor and causing the unborn baby's death.
Methadone is a synthetic opioid used to treat substance abuse. It's an approved treatment for addiction and is safe for women to take while pregnant , but abruptly stopping its use can be fatal for the fetus.
Frymyer's suit is the second high-profile one filed against the facility in recent months. In August, a woman filed a lawsuit accusing the jail of deliberate indifference, negligence, wrongful death, and medical indifference after her son, Brandon Baker, died in their care.
The Madison County Detention Center, Jailer Steve Tussey, West Kentucky Correctional Healthcare and other employees are named as defendants in Frymyer's suit. She claims they violated her constitutional rights and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Tussey was not available for comment.
What led to the lawsuit
In 2023, Frymyer was being housed at a Lexington rehabilitation center for pregnant women, where she was prescribed methadone.
While methadone is a safe treatment for women pregnant women with opioid use disorder — commonly referred to as addiction — abruptly stopping its use can cause preterm labor, fetal distress, and miscarriage, according to the Center for Disease Control.
On Oct. 12 of that year, Frymyer was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to three narcotics-related crimes. She was sent to the Madison County Detention Center and was slated to return to the rehab center as part of the Women's Medical Release , a state program that provides an alternative to jail for incarcerated pregnant women who have substance use disorder.
But that would not happen.
The jail knew Frymyer had been prescribed methadone by a doctor, the lawsuit claims, but she was denied the medication for five days anyway. The detention center claimed there were issues "regarding the availability of methadone in the jail" and whether someone would be able to prescribe it to her, according to doctor's notes included in the lawsuit.
On Oct. 17, she was taken to the University of Kentucky Hospital for methadone withdrawal, strong uterine contractions, and decreased fetal movement.
The doctors were unable to detect a heartbeat, and she delivered a stillborn baby 38 weeks into her pregnancy.
"Defendants' failure to provide methadone to (Frymyer) caused her to suffer forced withdrawal from the methadone, which in turn caused her to have this tragic late pregnancy miscarriage," the lawsuit reads.
Because Frymyer was no longer pregnant, she was not a candidate for Women's Medical Release or to return to rehab. She was instead sent to the Grayson County Detention Center just after the stillbirth, according to court documents.
OBGYN: Denial of medication 'unethical'
Dr. Carolyn Sufrin, an associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Johns Hopkins , specializes in reproductive health care for incarcerated people. Sufrin said in an interview she could not speak about Frymyer's case specifically, but she could discuss general practices for methadone access for pregnant women in jail.
Sufrin said access to methadone for any pregnant person with substance use disorder reduces the chances of death for both the fetus and the mother. But forced withdrawal is extremely dangerous.
"Opioid withdrawal in pregnancy, especially when it's forced and not chosen by the person, is not safe for either the pregnant person or the fetus," she said.
Even if the fetus does survive, opioid withdrawal can cause a stress response that leads to various potential developmental and neurodevelopmental changes. For the mother, it can cause a higher rate of fatal overdose.
"A pregnant person receiving methadone treatment — which is the national standard of care — for that woman to then go into jail and be forced to go off that treatment is unethical, and contrary to all medical standards of care that are recommended in pregnancy," she said.
But denial of access to medication for addiction remains prevalent in jails, Sufrin said.
According to a 2019 national study conducted by Sufrin, only 32% of jails would initiate access to medication such as methadone for a pregnant person who enters jail in active opioid addiction. Sixty percent of jails said they would continue methadone treatment for a pregnant person who was already receiving it.
"Sixty percent might sound good, but that should be 100%," she said.
Jail violated Americans with Disabilities Act, lawsuit claims
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits jails from denying access to medications for opioid use disorder without assessing medical needs.
The Madison County Detention Center did not do so, the lawsuit claims.
Several recent decisions by the Department of Justice have affirmed that access to medication for opioid use is required in jails and prisons, and that a lack of access to methadone constitutes unlawful disability discrimination.
In Kentucky, the federal government entered agreements last year with Big Sandy Regional Detention Center and the Fayette County Detention Center after the facilities were found to have violated the Americans with Disability Act for failing to provide opioid treatment medications. The agreements required them to make procedural changes that included offering treatment and methadone.
And in April, the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky issued a letter to correctional facilities throughout the state reminding them that they must offer prescribed medication related to opioid treatment.
"Access to medications that treat (opioid use disorder) saves lives and helps us in this fight," U.S. Attorney Carlton Shier wrote. "So, we are urging detention facilities to be mindful of their obligations under federal law, offering to work collaboratively with them to ensure these rights, and intending to do our part in enforcing them."
Frymyer is seeking an unspecified amount of damages for past and future physical pain, mental anguish, medical expenses, and punitive damages.
A hearing has not yet been set in the case.
