Girl dies before transplant received
GLENDALE — Hours after CIGNA HealthCare reversed a decision to deny coverage for a potentially life-saving liver transplant for Nataline Sarkisyan, the 17-year old Northridge resident died at about 6 p.m. on Thursday at Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA.
Doctors first sought coverage from Nataline’s family’s insurance provider on Dec. 10 for the transplant, but the coverage was denied.
About 150 of Nataline’s relatives, friends and supporters gathered Thursday morning to demonstrate at Cigna’s Glendale office on North Brand Boulevard, where they pleaded with the company to reverse its decision denying the transplant.
Minutes after the demonstration, Nataline’s supporters got the news they were hoping for.
Calling their decision a rare exception, Cigna officials released a statement Thursday announcing that they will provide coverage if doctors proceeded with Nataline’s liver transplant.
Nataline died hours later.
The victim’s family are scheduled to hold a press conference today to announce plans to sue CIGNA HealthCare, who the Sarkisyan’s blame for Nataline’s death.
The company’s statement on Thursday called their decision to reverse their initial denial of coverage a rare exception.
“Based on the unique circumstances of this situation, and although it is outside the scope of the plan’s coverage and despite the lack of medical evidence regarding the effectiveness of such treatment, 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,” the statement said.
Sarkisyan, who has suffered from recurrent Leukemia since age 14, received a bone-marrow transplant from her brother on Nov. 21; complications tied to the surgery and ensuing chemotherapy caused her to develop veno-occlusive disease, a condition that shut down her kidneys and liver, Hilda Sarkisyan said.
Doctors immediately sought approval from Cigna to perform the liver transplant, a procedure they describe in a Dec. 11 letter to the insurance company as having a six-month survival rate of 65% in similar medical scenarios.
The company denied coverage, twice, calling the procedure “experimental, investigational and unproven.”
During the back-and-forth negotiations, between doctors and insurance company representatives, Nataline’s life laid in the balance, said Bedig Sarkisyan, 21, Nataline’s brother.