Posted on 04/10/2026 11:45:02 AM PDT by DFG
It didn’t matter that Eric Tennant’s oncologist had recommended the medication to shrink his tumors.
The patient’s health insurance allegedly stood in the way — until it was too late.
In early 2025, after more than two years of chemotherapy that hollowed him out from the inside, the frail 58-year-old was deemed a good candidate for histotripsy, a new treatment that could target the tumors in his liver with ultrasound waves instead of surgery.
Tennant’s wife, Rebecca, had heard of histotripsy and brought the idea to her husband’s doctor. There was a relatively narrow window in which he could receive the treatment, and his medical team was ready to start.
But suddenly Tennant’s doctors were handicapped: His insurance had denied the request, noting in the paperwork that the potentially life-saving treatment was “not medically necessary,” per NBC News and KFF Health News.
Multiple rounds of appeals were unsuccessful. Out-of-pocket costs for the Tennant family — which included Eric, his wife and their two grown children — would have been around $50,000.
Tennant, a mining safety instructor from Bridgeport, West Virginia, was put on hospice last year and died in September.
“He wasn’t afraid to die, but he didn’t want to die,” Rebecca told KFF. “And you could tell the last day that he was fighting it big time.”
Tennant had been diagnosed with stage 4 cholangiocarcinoma, a rare cancer that attacked his bile ducts before spreading to other parts of his body. By the time Rebecca discovered histotripsy, his largest tumor was in his liver.
It was unlikely that the proposed treatment would have sent Tennant into full remission, but the family believed it could have bought him some more time.
This tragic turn of events is not uncommon.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
They didn’t say, but I bet you dollars to donuts it was United Healthcare.
Terrible, terrible coverage. I had it once through my employer, and my doctors HATED it because of all the hoops they had to jump through to get something approved.
Additional info:
“Histotripsy is FDA-approved for the treatment of primary and metastatic liver tumors, with marketing authorization granted to the Edison histotripsy system by HistoSonics in October 2023. This approval, achieved through the De Novo Classification Request process, marks the first time histotripsy has received regulatory clearance worldwide, allowing it to be used as a non-invasive alternative to surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy for liver cancer.”
Hope all goes well for the Mrs. and you. Thanks for the insight. Definitely going to file that info.
Hmmm...well that’s interesting. Also of interest is that the insurer is UnitedHealth Care...
was he white?
According to a 2025 article, Public Employees Insurance Agency of West Virginia did reverse their denial and instructed United Healthcare to pay for the treatment for him, but it was far too late.
The Insurance Company should be held accountable....lawyer u[ and go after them.
Passport, plane ticket and a stay in Kuala Lumpur. I search for specialty hospitals online in the hotel (too many reseller middlemen online in the West. When at the hotel I call locally and make appts directly with the providers.
That’s my Medical Insurance now. I’m insured against US healthcare doing what’s best for insurance companies and the ‘Health Industry’, not what’s in my best interest.
FWIW cancer treatment probably causes more premature deaths than cancer. Your body is not designed to be cured with cancer causing chemicals and cancer causing radiation.
This might be why Luigi shot Brian.
So what happened with the federal Right to Try Act of 2018 that Trump signed into law?
You are TRY the experimental treatments. Insurance ain’t paying for them.
That's almost always the case but there are rare exceptions. Jimmy Carter was one such. His stage 4 melanoma had spread everywhere .. until he was given an experimental drug known as a 'checkpoint blocker'. The idea is.. the body's immune system is ready to destroy the cancer wherever it is but a 'lock' is holding it back. The drug releases that lock. And sure enough his cancer vanished and he lived to be 100.
I have a family member that survived stage 4 colon cancer 25 yrs ago. The Dr. tried a new chemo therapy on him and it worked.
You can get waivers if the Ins. is willing.
Judy Perkins was another. She had stage 4 metastatic breast cancer and like Jimmy Carter was months from dying. Until she was given an experimental treatment called ‘Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes’. Her immune (T) cells were removed, genetically engineered to target her specific cancer and infused back. Like a miracle her cancer vanished from everywhere in her body. These were rare responders but showed that - in theory at least - stage 4 cancer isn’t necessarily incurable and a death sentence.
“I understood that stage 4 cancer means it had metastasized such that there no way to expect any therapy to would be any help.”
It had spread to his bones. The referenced treatment would do nothing except maybe shrink a couple of tumors in his liver.
*is* another. She is still alive.
“They didn’t say, but I bet you dollars to donuts it was United Healthcare.”
Stay away from Vegas and your local bookies.
That's true. So what is the solution and how does it get resolved?
Nobody wants govt. funded health care.......
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