Murder By Spreadsheet: CIGNA Denies Claim and 17-Year-Old Will Die (action needed)

[Donnachaidh]

Folks -- this person needs our help -- please read the entire story at the link:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/12/20/92943/929/400/424700

The California Nurses Association is trying to help this girl who desperately needs a Liver Transplant. From the article --

Nataline Sarkisyan, recently treated at UCLA Medical Center with a bone marrow transplant for curing leukemia, developed a rare complication from the chemotherapy and transplant causing many of her organs, including her liver and kidneys to shut down. Her doctors say that she needs a transplant but CIGNA has ignored this medical decision and calls the transplant "experimental" as justification for denying the treatment.

"My daughter survived two bouts of cancer, and against all odds has been stable even with so many of her organs not working, only to now be told that she can not get the only treatment that will save her life because some administrator in some office thinks it is too expensive," said Hilda Sarkisyan. "We needed help in standing up against this insurance provider, and of course it was the nurses who stepped forward."

Now I'm going to let you know why Cigna has denied this lifesaving surgery.

One frightening word, dear friends: PROFITS

##########################

PLEASE kick this -- and make a phone call to aid someone who really needs our help!

[glowing]

1. Link a phone number or e-mail... Please.

[G_Leo_Criley]

3. info at link but...

here 'tis, from the linked article at daily kos::

phone number to cigna:

1-818-500-6262


Mr. H. Edward Hanway
Chairman and CEO
CIGNA Corp.

CIGNA Corporate Offices*
900 Cottage Grove Road
Bloomfield, CT 06002
860.226.6000

CIGNA Corporate Headquarters*
Two Liberty Place
1601 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19192
215.761.1000

the ceo of cigna is also a member of the board of directors of AHIP.

Again, from the article at Kos;
If you can't reach Edward, try calling AHIP, here's a number to one of the PR hacks, whose name I always see quoted in the newspaper.
Mohit Ghose
[phone]


Hope this helps,

glc

[jtrockville]

16. NEW number set up at CIGNA just for Nataline: 818-500-6775

Looks like we're making a difference!

[drm604]

19. Calling that number just removes the pressure.

They want you off of their regular phone lines. Calling that number just makes things easier for CIGNA.

[Yael]

40. Nope. We got moved from the lobby to the loading dock.

I would keep calling the main lines...

Fuck 'em.

[Melinda]

2. Contact Info: 1-818-500-6262.... More below:

Mr. H. Edward Hanway
Chairman and CEO
CIGNA Corp.

CIGNA Corporate Offices*
900 Cottage Grove Road
Bloomfield, CT 06002
860.226.6000

CIGNA Corporate Headquarters*
Two Liberty Place
1601 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19192
215.761.1000

If you can't reach Edward, try calling AHIP, here's a number to one of the PR hacks, whose name I always see quoted in the newspaper.

Mohit Ghose
[phone]

Please help keep kicked, and make those calls!!

[Yael]

9. Hanway is in Philly at 215.761.1000

[prairiedawgz]

51. Profit over promises of care

Although this has ended tragically, I would suggest contacting the following Investor Relations people at Cigna. The more attention this gets in the media, the lower their stock price may dive...which falls in the domain of these folks:

Ted Detrick, Vice President, Investor Relations
215.761.1414
[e-mail]

Joseph (Michael) Walter, Financial Analysis Senior Director
215.761.4575
[e-mail]

Prith Ruprai, Financial Analysis Manager
215.761.1965
[e-mail]

[Sylvia Christopher]

54. SHOULD GET MURDER CHARGES!

Due to their arrogance and lack of medical knowledge - They don't know how this young girl's life would have played out. They have caused tremendous grief to her family. And let us not forget the profit motive because that is all they know. I hope they are charged with murder. I would like to see Murder #1, but manslaughter would be nice. I would like to think that they are not sleeping at night, but they are sociopaths and the sociopaths sleep well.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

4. kick

[G_Leo_Criley]

5. There is nothing "experimental" about a liver transplant

Nothing experimental at all.

I think that what happens is that their computers are set up to flag anything even remotely out of the ordinary or unusual, which puts the onus on the consumer to get their doctors to justify the need for any extraordinary surgery, with yet more paperwork.

glc

[glowing]

6. Cigna just threw me off the switchboard and onto the general Operator

line-- when I got to the Operator, she had no clue what was going on and finally asked what number she could help me find.. that she was just the operator... I'll try another one of the numbers.

[yurbud]

7. the execs of insurance companies should be tried for murder. One admitted as much in Sicko

[Yael]

8. I just called and the woman in Hanway's office who I spoke with said that I am the third to call

in a matter of minutes. I told her it is because this story is plastered across the internet today. She said she doen't know where to go with this information, but that she will make sure Mr. Hanway knows.

BTW -- he is at the Philadelphia office. Just call, wait for the operator and ask to be transferred to his office.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

11. Totally OT: is your avatar a diode or a rewind button? -nt

[Yael]

12. It is the letter "k" from a bizarre font I found on the interwebs

No significance, I just liked the colors. :)

[Richard Steele]

10. Grrrecommended

[rug]

13. Ae you saying the hospital and doctors will let her die if the insurance company doesn't preapprove?

[slackmaster]

28. Probably they would do the surgery if they had a liver available

But if there was another patient for which an insurance company was willing to pay for the surgery, that liver would go there instead.

[Th1onein]

30. I think not.

My son was going to get a double lobar lung transplant. One of the problems is that we couldn't raise (through good old-fashioned begging) the funds in time for him. He died.

[slackmaster]

32. Sorry to hear that, Th1onein

Availability of treatment for a life-saving procedure should never be tied to certainty of funding.

[Th1onein]

48. It is the cruelest of systems.

And the innocent pay.

Strange that the fundies don't get that, isn't it?

[Sylvia Christopher]

56. KEEP IT GOING! 15 MINUTES OF FAME OVER? I THINK NOT. LET'S GET THE INSURANCE COMPANIES

I see a decrease in responses. Cigna won! The young girl was supposed to win. Angelinos out there, pick a day for a protest march. Petititions. Write the district attorney for a murder conviction. COME ON. Things don't change sitting on your hands.

[BrklynLiberal]

14. K&R

[jtrockville]

15. Stupid, stupid, stupid

Did anyone see/read John Grisham's "The Rainmaker". Eerily familiar.

[Rhythm]

63. Ironically, i've been re-reading it this weekend...

The headline here made me do a serious double-take.

[drm604]

17. K&R Michael Moore has this on his front page.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/

[lovuian]

18. this so ticks me off

I hope they get her the transplant

[lisainmilo]

20. Cigna Caved Transplant approved!

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/12/20/92943/929/400/424700

:woohoo:

Prays for the girl and her family

[G_Leo_Criley]

21. Thanks for the good news!

All best to Nataline and family.

glc

[Breeze54]

33. Great news!!!

:kick: & Recommeded

[UndertheOcean]

22. This makes me mad

:(,

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. We shouldn't have to fight or fundraise to get healthcare in this country

x(

[caligirl]

24. CNA Schum at the kos thread has updated this: Cigna has agreed to pay for the Tx for Nataline

About 150 people are staying put at the CIGNA building in Glendale demanding it in writing. Seems Cigna was inudated with calls. Not even members of the media got through directly. Although I feel sure if they left a message their calls will get returned. So what is being celebrated now is the power of the people and with the leadership of CNA getting this done and doing this again for other patients. The fight against profits over health of our citizenry is now.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
BREAKING--WE WIN (6+ / 0-)

Recommended by:
nyceve, griz4u, Chaoslillith, pat of butter in a sea of grits, AmericanRiverCanyon, Randgrithr

CIGNA just called the family AND APPROVED THE LIVER TRANSPLANT. WE WON!!!!!! I am ready to start crying now.

More than 100 people remain at the scene of the Glendale protest as I write, demanding CIGNA give written confirmation of the approval.

I know that the Sarkysian family sends their hearts and love to everyone who called CIGNA this morning. They have come so far, and your support means so much. They are going to write you directly later on, but for now, as part of their patient revolt, they are continuing their action, with 150 friends, family, nurses, healthcare activists, and members of the Armenian community gathered in front of their headquarters in Glendale.

CIGNA had to go into crisis PR mode, and stop answering phones around the country...and no way for the press to get in touch with them.

We HAVE power. We can never forget that. We can do this again for other patients--and we can fix this torture masquerading as a healthcare system.

by California Nurses Shum on Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 11:41:48 AM PST






Protest pictures at Cigna in Glendale.

[Sylvia Christopher]

52. PREMEDIATED MURDER DUE TO BEING GRAVELY ILL

PREMEDITATED MURDER DUE TO BEING GRAVELY ILL!  
They are going to hide behind the fact that this young girl
was gravely ill and didn’t have a chance and hope you forget
about all the people they do this to everyday who had chances
and are dead because the insurance company canceled them when
they got sick.   My name is Sylvia Christopher and I live in
Los Angeles.  When I was diagnosed with basal cell skin cancer
on my face, my insurance company (not Cigna) began to pretend
they were not receiving my premium checks and this started a
series of phone calls with them.  They were surgery sweet and
kept telling me not to worry.  But I was worried the 3 checks
I sent to them were not cashed and when I asked them if I
could pay over the phone or with a credit card, they told me
that they could not accept payment without a voucher or over
the phone.  I had no vouchers because I sent them  in with my
payments.  But I was worried. I had skin cancer and my
payments were not reaching the  insurance company despite
being sent in their envelopes.  The checks never came back to
me and yet they were not reaching them according to the
representative.  I called one last time and was reassured that
another bill was being sent out.  I received a cancellation
notice.  Not only did I have skin cancer that was growing but
I had to find out what to do.  I researched and found Tim
Weston in Pasadena, CA and Appeals and Grievances Dept in Van
Nuys, Ca.  Both did all they could but the  health insurance
company lied and said they never received any payments.  You
can imagine what it is like to have a disease and want comfort
and treatment and your well known, major health insurance
giant turns out to be a group of thugs.   The surgery was done
by County. WHAT I AM TRYING TO SAY IS DON’T BE SWAYED BY THEIR
CURRENT CRAP THAT THIS WAS A HOPELESS CASE. THAT IS NOT THEIR
DECISION. THEY KNOW NOTHING. AND DON’T LET THEM MAKE YOU THINK
THAT THAT MATTERS TO THEM. THEY DENY COVERAGE TO PEOPLE WHO
HAVE AN EXCELLENT CHANCE. LET’S DO SOMETHING. MARCH, PROTEST,
BUT DON’T GIVE UP. COME ON, THESE ARE THUGS WE’RE TALKING
ABOUT.

[HughMoran]

53. Wow, Welcome to DU

Thanks for posting your story here - I hope you stick around long enough to get posting privileges so everybody here can hear your bad experience. This should be an issue during this election cycle! Thanks for sharing your story! Good luck.

[K Gardner]

25. Two Words: Single payer. Thankfully people are waking up to this national

disgrace and through web sites like MMs and this one and grassroots efforts, it is going to be harder each day for Killer Insurance Companies to deny care. Unfortunately, 50 million or so have no recourse. They have no insurance at all.

[drm604]

26. We need to put this kind of pressure on our government.

And we need to do it every day.

[pleah]

27. Yes we do, indeed!

[Vinca]

29. Thank heavens she's getting the transplant, but

what a sorry state of affairs that it takes mass protest for a policyholder to get a medical treatment from their insurance company. No one should feel secure just because they can afford health insurance. Single payer, universal healthcare NOW!

[MasonJar]

31. Just like Michael Moore said in "Sicko."

[onethatcares]

34. gaudammint, when will the presidential aspirants realize we don't

want fukking insurance, we want UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE. what is so hard about that?

[DearAbby]

35. K&R....This is so WRONG n/t

[Danieljay]

36. We just stopped billing insurance at our clinic. We are sick and tired and dealing with them.

The patient pays at the time of service, we provide the insurance form complete with ICD9 codes and let the patient deal with them directly and get reimbursed.

United Health Care is the worst, denying every claim the first time. Blue Cross is about the best to work with and seems to cover more services. That being said, we are out of the insurance collection business.

[eridani]

42. Single payer will put everybody out of the insurance collection business

Speed the day!

[Mnemosyne]

37. Needs

another :kick:

Let's shame them into doing the right thing.

[FloridaJudy]

38. Woo Hoo! We won!

I just went to the CNA Website to find out how to contact Cigna, and this was the headline: CIGNA CAPITULATES TO PATIENT REVOLT

The kid's gonna get her new liver. Well done people! Now for the other 300 million Americans who are uninsured or under-insured..

http://www.calnurses.org/media-center/press-releases/2007/december/cigna-capitulates-to-patient-revolt-following-massive-protest-insurer-authorizes-transplant-for-17-year-old-nataline-sarkisyan.html

[beyurslf]

39. How is a liver transplant "expiremental"?

First liver transplant was in 1963.

<http://www.medhunters.com/articles/transplantTimelineLiverPancreas.html>

[Yael]

41. I am so proud to be a member of this community and standing with you all

Thank you Donnachaidh for bringing this to our attention.

It is GO good to see the little guy win one for a change!! :woohoo:

The Sarkisyan family will be in our thoughts and prayers.

[still_one]

43. Agree, but one question also, why won't UCLA do it without possible compensation? /nt

[benny05]

44. Go see my post in LBN

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3109959

[K Gardner]

46. Could this one terrible tragedy, so well publicized after Sicko, be the final straw

that will set this country to DEMANDING single payer?? This just cannot go on.

[d_b]

45. And now she's dead

Fuck those rotten bastards. Something must be done about these miserable pricks.

[unapatriciated]

47. Call and write letters they do make a difference

In 1991 my son was diagnosed with Dermatomyositis only after almost a year of fighting with my HMO to do some simple blood tests (I had lupus in the family and the symptoms are similar). The Hmo doctor wanted to send him home to die when he was finally diagnosed and admitted to Childrens Los Angels. I fought them with the help from family, friends and a wonderful doctor at Children's. He is disabled because of the delay in treatment but alive and enrolled at the Art Institute of San Francisco.

This Video is one of my favorites from the Awful Truth.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LXkpxV7mnqY

edited for spelling

[sk8rrobert2]

49. Anyone ever heard of "The Rainmaker" by John Grisham

Also a movie with Matt Damon both are excellent and really similar.

[DemKR]

50. K&R..do something

[Iris]

55. She's already gone.

She died on Friday. :cry:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071222/ap_on_re_us/teen_liver_transplant;_ylt=Av4WsGrvu5ADz_6ILqwsfFas0NUE

[HughMoran]

57. This is just the beginning

Read post #52. This needs to be the beginning of action to prevent this from happening again. Heck, even I have nightmare stories to tell, but nobody's life has been put at risk yet.

[Sylvia Christopher]

58. PROFITS

Their profits are in the billions of dollars. They pay themselves bonus that are larger than all the money you make in your lifetime.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

59. Why isn't an aggressive and ambitious District Attorney on this like ticks on a hound?

Many DAs are motivated into aggressively pursuing criminal charges for political reasons and to make a rep for themselves. Why isn't a DA out there subpoenaing files and empaneling Grand Juries? If they can go to all the trouble of trying to put a 17 year old kid behind bars for years because a 15 year old wanted to give him a blow job, there should be even more energy devoted to building a case for involuntary manslaughter or even possibly murder based on depraved indifference. This matter should not just involve a civil suit for monetary damages and wrongful death. This should involve at least an attempt to bring a criminal case against the executives all the way up the chain of command who were responsible for this tragic result.

[Sylvia Christopher]

60. Lobbylists

They hire women to give the blow jobs so these companies can act like they want and do what they want. Women and money is the ploy of lobbyists. That's the American Way.

[HughMoran]

61. This is the post the Freepers are afraid of

Keep it kicked...

[Sylvia Christopher]

62. WHOSE GOING TO START PETITION FOR MURDER CHARGES AGAINST CIGNA

Someone come up with a petition to instigate murder charges against Cigna. Let's get is going.

[HughMoran]

64. ...or at least get our candidates to use this and other examples

of why our health care system in this country SUCKS. No more insurance companies!

[Sylvia Christopher]

65. NOTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE UNLESS WE CHANGE IT!

Nothing is going to change unless we protest or petition. Cigna has billions to settle. Manslaughter would teach a lesson. We can't let our healthcare be determined by how good a company hires us or if the business that hires un even offers health insurance which usually they don't. It can no longer be like, "We reserve the right to Refuse Service to Anyone". Let's do something!. Don't let this die on the vine.

[HughMoran]

66. You need to post your story here and link it to this story and see if we can get some action going

I am shocked that such a big issue to the Dems is being ignored here on DU. They're back to sniping each other about their favorite candidate or getting into pointless arguments with the Ron Paul trolls who have been staging midnight raids here every night. Can you start a post yet...?