The family of a 17-year-old girl who died hours after her health insurer reversed a decision and said it would pay for a liver transplant plans to sue the company, their attorney said Friday.

Nataline Sarkisyan died Thursday at about 6 p.m. at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center. She had been in a vegetative state for weeks, said her mother, Hilda.

"She passed away, and the insurance (company) is responsible for this," she said.

Nataline had been battling leukemia and received a bone marrow transplant from her brother. She developed a complication that caused her liver to fail.

Doctors at UCLA determined she needed a transplant and sent a letter to Cigna Corp.'s Cigna HealthCare on Dec. 11. The Philadelphia-based health insurance company denied payment for the transplant, saying the procedure was experimental and outside the scope of coverage.

On Thursday, about 150 teenagers and nurses protested outside Cigna's office in Glendale. As the protesters rallied, the company reversed its decision and said it would approve the transplant.

Despite the reversal, CIGNA said in an e-mail statement before she died that there was a lack of medical evidence showing the procedure would work in Nataline's case.

"Our hearts go out to Nataline and her family, as they endure this terrible ordeal," the company said. " ... CIGNA HealthCare has decided to make an exception in this rare and unusual case and we will provide coverage should she proceed with the requested liver transplant."

Officials with CIGNA could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday night.


I hope this really infuriates people who are covered by these sons-a-b1tches! I don't know about anyone else but I'm tired of these corporations playing with peoples lives acting like some sort of god. I would hope this causes alot of people to cancel their coverage with these mother ****ers and go with someone else, also I hope the family of this girl gets a 100 million dollar settlement however I'm sure with the buyout of congress they won't pay anything!

the more I think about it I would like to take the investors the board of directors the CEO and President of all the insurance companies including auto, and put them on a boat in the pacific and torpedo the mother****er!

Insurance--and I have insurance through my company--is basically a form of legalized gambling.

Life-you're betting you're going to die
Health-you're betting you're going to get sick
Auto-you're betting you're going to be in a wreck
Home-you're betting you're going to be burglarized or that your house is going to burn down

Think about this: Insurance is the only form of gambling where you "win" by losing.

Cigna has reversed the decision;^]

Unfortunatly too late, she passed away shortly after the decision;^[

I think this case might be the wake up call this country needs to realize how much power has left the doctor's hands when it comes to health care and just how much control the insurance companies have taken regarding medical decisions. It's reprehensible that a doctor can be overruled by an insurance company employee with no medical training. This young girl's case, while tragic, is hardly a one time occurrence.

It is such a shame that this young woman will never get the chance to live her life and that her family will always feel the sting of her loss. I only hope that maybe some good will come of this-that perhaps a real, honest debate can start on how to fix the broken health care system in this country and that this debate can lead to real changes to improve the lives of those in this country.