Cigna denied a California man a lifesaving lung transplant at the last minute, after previously approving it, according to news reports.
The man, Deron Wells of Santa Monica, Calif., told news reporters that he was denied a transplant. His family and friends have started a GoFundMe fundraiser that had raised $86,000 as of Monday morning.
“The 59-year-old and his family say Cigna had approved him for procedures that would allow him to be transferred to Northwestern Medicine in Chicago for a clinical trial double lung transplant he had been medically approved for,” KABC in Los Angeles said. “As they were preparing to leave UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center on Friday, Cigna denied coverage for both the transplant and medical transfer to Illinois.”
Lung transplants are not a standard treatment for lung cancer, Cigna said. “Our coverage guidelines are grounded in national clinical standards to help ensure the best possible outcomes for patients,” Cigna said in a statement quoted by KABC.
Wendell Potter, a former insurance executive turned whistleblower, wrote of the case on his Substack. In a postscript, he wrote: “Speaking of numbers, Cigna’s board of directors gave CEO David Cordani a 10.5% raise last year, bringing his total 2024 compensation to $23.3 million. The company made almost $8 billion in profits on the $247 billion it collected last year in premiums and fees from people like Deron Wells.”
Similar case in 2023
Wells’s case is reminiscent of that of a Nashville teacher named Carole Taylor in 2023.
Taylor, a Nashville teacher, found the promise of a lifesaving lung transplant withdrawn by her insurer at the last second right before Thanksgiving, and then ultimately approved after pressure was brought by social media.
She was in the hospital and the team was preparing the operating room when Cigna announced its reversal.
Brian Goldstone, a journalist, posted over on X Twitter: “At 3:45, as the transplant team was prepping the OR, a doctor came to Carole’s room. She had terrible news. @Cigna, Carole’s insurance company, had just denied her claim. They’d made a mistake, they said, in initially approving the procedure. They were now refusing to pay for it.”
“Carole and her kids were sent home, and she was taken off the waitlist for a donor match. Her doctors have promised to appeal @Cigna‘s decision next week. In the meantime, there is concern about the cancer spreading. If that happens, a transplant will no longer be an option.”
“Now for the plea. Carole’s doctors at Vanderbilt are convinced that this transplant can save her life. But @Cigna will need to reverse their decision—and quickly. The company’s CEO is David Cordani. He can be reached at David.cordani@cigna.com.”
Hundreds of people wrote in and posted on social media, and Cigna reversed its decision within days.
