Aetna Abused Discretion by Denying Benefits for Long-Term Pain

Aetna Life Insurance Co. abused its discretion in terminating a claimant’s long term benefits after deciding that his ailments, including long-term pain, were mental rather than physical, a federal court said.

The decision to terminate Steven Ehrlich’s benefits was based on a defective process in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, Judge Jon S. Tigar said Thursday for the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

Ehrlich was a senior executive at Space-Time Insight until 2016, when he requested disability benefits due to contast pain, fatigue, memory problems, and other issues. Since 2010, he’d been treated ...