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November 12, 2018

Aetna Ordered to Pay Family of Cancer Patient Denied Treatment
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And in Oklahoma City, a jury has ordered the insurance giant Aetna to
pay over $25 million to the family of a cancer patient who died after
she was denied cancer treatment. The jury ruled Aetna acted recklessly
in 2014 when three of the company's medical directors decided to deny
radiation therapy to Orrana Cunningham, who had stage IV cancer near her
brain stem. The directors called the treatment "experimental," even
though the treatment is covered under Medicare. Orrana died in 2015 at
the age of 54; doctors think the treatment denied by Aetna might have
dramatically extended her life.


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