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December 2, 2008 12:04:28 PM CST

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'They Took My Daughter Away From Me'

Posted Dec 21, 07 7:15 PM CST in US,  Science & Health 

(Newser) – The family of a 17-year-old whose insurer had refused to OK a liver transplant plans to sue the company in the wake of the girl's death, the Los Angeles Times reports. Leukemia patient Nataline Sarkisyan died after Cigna HealthCare refused to fund the transplant despite doctors’ recommendations. After online and public protests, the company relented, but the decision came too late.

The family's lawyer told ABC News he may push for murder or manslaughter charges; the LA County DA's office declined comment. Sarkisyan developed an infection after a bone marrow transplant and was in intensive care for 3 weeks before dying yesterday. "She had a 65% chance of survival if she had gotten the liver," her mother said. But Cigna had deemed the procedure “too experimental.”

Sources Los Angeles Times, ABC News

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    Was Company at Fault in Teen's Death? Seventeen-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan, who died waiting for a liver transplant in December, has become the poster girl for John Edwards' call for a government-run health plan. Insurance giant Cigna denied her family's claim for the procedure, then reversed its decision a month later. She died shortly thereafter. But the story isn't as clear-cut as Edwards suggests in his stump speeches, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »

Krikor Sarkisyan, right, father of Natalee Sarkisyan, speaks as his son Bedros listens, during a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Dec. 21, 2007. The family of the 17-year-old girl, who died hours...   (Associated Press)
Attorney Mark Geragos, left, representing Krikor Sarkisyan, right, and his family, speaks during a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Dec. 21, 2007. The family of a 17-year-old girl, who died hours...   (Associated Press)
A photo of Nataline Sarkisyan is shown during a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Dec. 21, 2007. The family of the 17-year-old girl, who died hours after her health insurer CIGNA reversed a decision...   (Associated Press)
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health care • health care industry • leukemia • liver • Cigna • Nataline Sarkisyan • UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital


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