Nataline Sarkisyan
Encyclopedia
Nataline Mary Sarkisyan (July 10, 1990 – December 20, 2007) was an American
teenager with recurrent leukemia, first diagnosed at age 14, who received a bone marrow transplant
from her brother Bedros, November 27, 2007. She subsequently developed complications leading to multiple organ failure, including liver and kidney failure.
Sarkisyan was covered under the insurance company of her parents (either her father, an automotive technician for Mercedez-Benz of Calabasas, California, or her mother who may work for Prudential Real Estate). Physicians informed the family and insurance company , Cigna HealthCare, that patients in a similar situation have a 65% 6 month survival rate after a liver transplant. Dr. John Roberts, chief of the transplant service at UC San Francisco (not the transplant center treating Sarkisyan), stated that his center generally does not accept a patient without a 50% or greater five year survival rate. The chief of the Baylor Regional Transplant Institute in Dallas, Dr. Goran Klintmalm, said this particular operation was a "very high-risk transplant." Dr. Klintmalm did state that he would consider the same operation on a similar patient.. Cigna's rejection on December 11 led Sarkisyan's doctors at the UCLA medical center, including the head of its transplant unit, to write a letter to protest that the treatment proposed was neither experimental nor unproven and called on Cigna to urgently review its decision.
Cigna HealthCare refused to pay for treatment, citing policy provisions which do not cover services considered experimental, investigational and/or unproven to be safe and/or effective for the patient.
CIGNA notes that it had no financial stake in the decision to authorize the transplant because it merely administers the insurance plan of the parent's employer and would not bear the cost of any operation. However, Cigna was offering to pay for the transplant itself when it made the exception to the policy. Cigna's reversal of its policy, offering to pay for the transplant, came several hours before Ms. Sarkisyan's death.
The cost of a liver transplant and 1 year of follow-up care was $450,000 in 2005. UCLA declined two livers while waiting for insurance approval from Cigna.. Ms. Sarkisyan's family was also informed that they could proceed with the transplant if they could make a down-payment of $75,000.
Sarkisyan's family retained
attorney Mark Geragos
to sue Cigna, and requested that Los Angeles County District Attorney
Steve Cooley
file murder
charges against the insurer. The case was thrown out due to a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court ruling shielding employer-paid healthcare plans from damages over their coverage decisions.
Sarkisyan's family has spoken out at a New Hampshire
rally in support of Senator John Edwards' presidential campaign on January 6,2008 based on his advocacy of reforming and overhauling the US health care system.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
teenager with recurrent leukemia, first diagnosed at age 14, who received a bone marrow transplant
Bone marrow transplant
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cell or blood, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood stem cells, or umbilical cord blood...
from her brother Bedros, November 27, 2007. She subsequently developed complications leading to multiple organ failure, including liver and kidney failure.
Sarkisyan was covered under the insurance company of her parents (either her father, an automotive technician for Mercedez-Benz of Calabasas, California, or her mother who may work for Prudential Real Estate). Physicians informed the family and insurance company , Cigna HealthCare, that patients in a similar situation have a 65% 6 month survival rate after a liver transplant. Dr. John Roberts, chief of the transplant service at UC San Francisco (not the transplant center treating Sarkisyan), stated that his center generally does not accept a patient without a 50% or greater five year survival rate. The chief of the Baylor Regional Transplant Institute in Dallas, Dr. Goran Klintmalm, said this particular operation was a "very high-risk transplant." Dr. Klintmalm did state that he would consider the same operation on a similar patient.. Cigna's rejection on December 11 led Sarkisyan's doctors at the UCLA medical center, including the head of its transplant unit, to write a letter to protest that the treatment proposed was neither experimental nor unproven and called on Cigna to urgently review its decision.
Cigna HealthCare refused to pay for treatment, citing policy provisions which do not cover services considered experimental, investigational and/or unproven to be safe and/or effective for the patient.
CIGNA notes that it had no financial stake in the decision to authorize the transplant because it merely administers the insurance plan of the parent's employer and would not bear the cost of any operation. However, Cigna was offering to pay for the transplant itself when it made the exception to the policy. Cigna's reversal of its policy, offering to pay for the transplant, came several hours before Ms. Sarkisyan's death.
The cost of a liver transplant and 1 year of follow-up care was $450,000 in 2005. UCLA declined two livers while waiting for insurance approval from Cigna.. Ms. Sarkisyan's family was also informed that they could proceed with the transplant if they could make a down-payment of $75,000.
Sarkisyan's family retained
Retainer
Retainer may refer to:* Retainer , a person, especially a soldier, in the service of a lord in the late Middle Ages** Retainer sacrifice, the sacrifice of a human servant* Retainer...
attorney Mark Geragos
Mark Geragos
Mark John Geragos is an Armenian/ American criminal defense attorney who defended the musician Michael Jackson, actress Winona Ryder, politician Gary Condit, and Susan McDougal. He was also involved in the Whitewater scandal. He also represented Scott Peterson, in another trial that received...
to sue Cigna, and requested that Los Angeles County District Attorney
Los Angeles County District Attorney
The District Attorney of Los Angeles County prosecutes felony and misdemeanor crimes that occur within the jurisdiction of Los Angeles County, California....
Steve Cooley
Steve Cooley
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Cooley is an American politician. As a Republican, he has been a prosecutor for 27 years and has been the Los Angeles County District Attorney since his election in 2000, in which he defeated incumbent two-term District Attorney Gil Garcetti, a Democrat...
file murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
charges against the insurer. The case was thrown out due to a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court ruling shielding employer-paid healthcare plans from damages over their coverage decisions.
Sarkisyan's family has spoken out at a New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
rally in support of Senator John Edwards' presidential campaign on January 6,2008 based on his advocacy of reforming and overhauling the US health care system.
External links
- Insurer's U-turn too late to save life of transplant teenager
- Teen dies after insurance nixes transplant funds
- Statement from Michael Moore on the Death of Nataline Sarkisyan
- Family of dead teen to sue insurer that dallied on liver transplant
- Tough calls in transplant case
- Attorney Wants Criminal Charges Against Insurer
- Teen's family plans to sue health insurer
- Lawsuit promised in transplant case
- Health Insurer to be Charged With Teen's Murder
- Nataline Sarkisyan's Battle Effecting Healthcare
- CIGNA HealthCare's Medical Coverage Position Paper for liver transplants