Denial of Leukemia Treatment Proper, Court Finds

A health plan administrator didn’t err in denying $505,086 in claims for a minor beneficiary’s leukemia treatment on the grounds that the treatment was a clinical trial not covered by the plan, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio determined (Children’s Hosp. Med. Ctr. of Akron v. Youngstown Assoc. In Radiology, Inc., 2014 BL 88506, N.D. Ohio, 4:11-cv-00506-BYP, 3/31/14). The beneficiary’s parents signed a consent form that described the treatment as “research” and “experimental,” Judge Benita Y. Pearson said in her March 31 opinion. The fact that portions of the treatment were medically ...