I just felt like spreading this story all over the world. I know there are Poles who have relatives in the US, and also Poles who are living in the US. This story is just sickening, and just shows you that your life is not up to doctors, but the people running the health insurance companies.
Article GLENDALE, Calif., Dec. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee today blasted insurance giant CIGNA for failing to approve a liver transplant one week earlier for 17-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan, who tragically died last night just hours after CIGNA relented and agreed to the procedure following a massive national outcry.
On Dec. 11, four leading physicians, including the surgical director of the Pediatric Liver Transplant Program at UCLA, wrote to CIGNA urging the company to reverse its denial. The physicians said that Nataline "currently meets criteria to be listed as Status 1A" for a transplant. They also challenged CIGNA's denial which the company said occurred because their benefit plan "does not cover experimental, investigational and unproven services," to which the doctors replied, "Nataline's case is in fact none of the above."
"So what happened between December 11, when CIGNA denied the transplant, and December 19 when they approved? A huge outpouring of protest and CIGNA's public humiliation. Why didn't they just listen to the medical professionals at the bedside in the first place?" asked Geri Jenkins, RN, a member of the CNA/NNOC Council of Presidents who works in a transplant unit at the University of California San Diego Medical Center.
If you feel like giving CIGNA a piece of your mind, here is there contact info:
Two Liberty Place 1601, Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19192
USA - Map
+1-215-761-1000 (Phone)
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