Calif. teen's family sues Cigna over transplant

Calif. teen's family sues Cigna over transplant

© 2008 The Associated Press

Dec. 26, 2008, 5:56PM

LOS ANGELES — The family of a 17-year-old leukemia patient has sued health insurance giant Cigna Corp. for her death in 2007 after the company initially refused to pay for a liver transplant.

The lawsuit filed last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court by the family's attorney, Mark Geragos, alleges breach of contract, unfair business practices and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The suit accuses Cigna of delaying and rejecting valid claims, which resulted in the wrongful death of Nataline Sarkisyan.

The Philadelphia-based insurer eventually approved the transplant after Sarkisyan's family held a rally outside Cigna's suburban Los Angeles office. Nataline, however, died hours after the approval was secured.

Chris Curran, a spokesman for Cigna, said the company empathizes with the family but feels the lawsuit is without merit. Curran said Cigna volunteered to pay for the procedure out of its own pocket and not the employer's.
"This decision was made despite the fact that Cigna had no obligation to do so and despite concluding, based on the information available, that the treatment would be unproven and ineffective and therefore experimental and not covered by the employer's benefit plan," Curran said, reading from a statement.

But Charles Idelson, a spokesman for the California Nurses Association, said insurance companies are "in business to provide profits for shareholders, not to provide care."

Full Story: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/6182733.html


A statement written by her mother is available at:
http://www.calnurses.org/media-cente...natalines.html

A video about the fight to save Nataline is available at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McGm0...e=channel_page

The approval letter from Cigna can be found at:
http://www.calnurses.org/assets/pdf/...ltr_122007.pdf