Natalee Sarkisyan, a 17-year-old from Glendale, Calif., died Thursday just a few hours after Cigna Health Care, her medical insurer, approved what it had previously described as "too experimental" a procedure. (ABC)
Posted on 12/21/2007 4:46:27 PM PST by Cagey
The family of a California teenager who died awaiting a liver transplant said they would sue the insurer whom they blame for their daughter's death.
Nataline Sarkisyan, a 17-year-old from Glendale, Calif., died Thursday just a few hours after her insurer, Cigna HealthCare, approved a procedure it had previously described as "too experimental."
Attorney Mark Geragos said that Cigna "maliciously killed her" and that he hopes to press murder or manslaughter charges against Cigna HealthCare for the death of Sarkisyan.
District Attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons declined to comment on the request for murder or manslaughter charges, saying it would be inappropriate to do so until Geragos submits evidence supporting his request.
"They took my daughter away from me," said Nataline's father, Krikor, who appeared at a news conference with his 21-year-old son, Bedros.
Cigna appears to have reversed its decision to deny the transplant after about 150 teenagers and nurses protested outside its Glendale office Thursday. "Protestors are here, the war is here," Hilda Sarkisyan, the girl's mother, told the group hours before her daughter's death. "We have a war here."
The Sarkisyan family claims that Cigna first agreed to the liver transplant surgery and had secured a match weeks ago. After the teen, who was battling leukemia, received a bone marrow transplant from her brother, however, she suffered a lung infection, and the insurer backed away from what it felt had become too risky a procedure.
"They're the ones who caused this. They're the one that told us to go there, and they would pay for the transplant," Hilda Sarkisyan said.
Geri Jenkins of the California Nurses Association said the Sarkisyans had insurance, and medical providers felt comfortable performing the medical procedure. In that situation, the the insurer should defer to medical experts, she said.
"They have insurance, and there's no reason that the doctors' judgment should be overrided by a bean counter sitting there in an insurance office," Jenkins said.
Doctors at the UCLA Medical Center actually signed a letter urging Cigna to review its decision. Nataline Sarkisyan was sedated into a coma to stabilize her as the family filed appeals in the case.
During the middle of Thursday's protest, Hilda Sarkisyan fielded a call from Cigna alerting her that her daughter's procedure had been given the green light. Cigna released a statement announcing the company "decided to make an exception in this rare and unusual case and we will provide coverage should she proceed with the requested liver transplant."
Natalee Sarkisyan, a 17-year-old from Glendale, Calif., died Thursday just a few hours after Cigna Health Care, her medical insurer, approved what it had previously described as "too experimental" a procedure. (ABC)
False and misleading headline alert. A plaintiff’s attorney seeking criminal charges to boost a civil suit is a long way from ‘Insurer...to be charged’.
this might be a “stay-tuned” sort of story...
You know .... aw, never mind.
Mark Geragos is the attorney.
They don’t call them “ambulance chasers” for nothing.
"They're the ones who caused this.
Not quite.
A prudent viewpoint.
I am sympathetic to the family, but there may be more to this story than what has been presented so far.
New liver?
Sure! I’ll just rustle one up!
Sad story, but there is no law suit here.
They don’t call them “ambulance chasers” for nothing.
_______________
No, they call them John Edwards.
There are no charges, and no DA is considering them.
What nonsense, even for the zero shame MSM.
| freedom of the press does not mean freedom from the truth |
The first liver transplant was in 1963, and the patient died 4 days later. THAT is an experimental procedure. Liver transplants have been quite successful and wnile not routine, are definitely WAY past the experimental stage.
The first one was 44 years ago!
I hope the bean counter responsible for the refusal sees her face in his/her dreams for the rest of its miserable existance.
Coming soon to a government health clinic near you.
Welcome to the Tabloid Internet. I don't know if they used that as a lead in on their network news tonight, but I wouldn't be surprised.
This is ridiculous. This girl was on death's door because of advanced leukemia and a superimposed pneumonia. It probably would not have been appropriate to transplant this girl.
Mark Gargleguts, ey? Great.
/s
I think the reluctance was due to the rest of her physical state.
Does it make sense to use a healthy organ in a body riddled with leukemia when there are better prospects awaiting transplants?
Sad story.
Supposedly this girl was pretty far gone by the time they sought the transplant.
What will our premiums be if all procedures are granted that offer a very low probability of being successful.
The hospital could have provided the surgery pro-bono. But didn’t.’
Not everyone can be saved.
Isn't That the way heath care is supposed to work?
And if they put the liver in and it didn’t take, they would sue for that.
When there is money involved people will screw people!
Meanwhile Hillary will fix this! /S
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