Woman sues, alleging Kansas prison system ignored health problems, now in kidney failure

A Kansas City, Kansas, woman incarcerated in a state prison alleges the Department of Corrections ignored her medical problems, leading to a hospitalization and surgery in September, as well as lifelong kidney failure.

Regena Robinson and her mother Carol Robinson filed a federal lawsuit in mid-October. Carol Robinson said she and her attorney have also had problems getting information about her daughter's whereabouts and condition.

"It's been very stressful," Carol Robinson said in a phone interview on Wednesday. "I've been praying a lot."

David Thompson, a spokesman for the Kansas Department of Corrections, said the agency does not comment on pending litigation. The department contracts with Centurion Health, which did not respond to a request for comment.

Regena Robinson, 44, of KCK, has been serving time for a parole violation at the state prison for women, Topeka Correctional Facility, since February 2023.

About seven months later, she began having trouble breathing. She went to the prison's medical facility multiple times for the breathing problem, high blood pressure and dizziness. Her symptoms worsened.

Carol Robinson said during phone calls, her daughter would relay the health issues she was experiencing. Sometimes she would get an aspirin.

"It was getting frustrating," Carol Robinson said.

Regena Robinson has three sons, two are adults and one is a teen. Carol Robinson said her daughter is "a funny girl" who makes her family laugh doing impressions.

"Everybody loves Regena," she said.

According to the lawsuit, on Sept. 25, Regena Robinson was having so much trouble breathing that she told her roommate that if she did not make it, she could keep her belongings. Her roommate took her down to a medical facility in a wheelchair where she passed out.

She was taken to a hospital and underwent surgery that day. Medical staff found fluid in her lungs and diagnosed her with a rare autoimmune disease. They also told her she had kidney failure and would need dialysis for the rest of her life.

Carol Robinson, of Wichita, said she was not informed her daughter had been taken to the hospital or was undergoing surgery. For a time, she was not told which hospital her daughter was at and had limited information about what was happening. Corrections staff, she said, gave her the run around or did not return her phone messages.

The Robinsons hired Kansas City attorney Madison McBratney, who said one of their biggest concerns was the Department of Corrections' lack of urgency. Kidney failure doesn't happen overnight, she said.

McBratney filed the lawsuit seeking a stop to Regina Robinson's release back to the prison and alleging neglect that violated her constitutional rights.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren issued an order stipulating Robinson not be released against medical advice.

McBratney said she was surprised to learn on Tuesday that her client had been sent back to prison. She said Regena Robinson will still need outpatient dialysis three times per week, and there's no plan for a plasma treatment she was receiving, which is not available on an outpatient basis.

"That's a pretty major concern," McBratney said.

She said their main priority now is Regena Robinson's quality of life, given her severe kidney problems.

Carol Robinson said she understands that people in prison have made bad choices.

But, she said, "You still have rights," she said.

"They're still people."