A California family is seeking murder or manslaughter charges against the health insurance company CIGNA following the death of seventeen-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan.
On December 11, doctors at UCLA determined Sarkisyan needed a liver transplant. But CIGNA refused to pay for the transplant, saying the procedure was experimental and outside the scope of coverage. After ten days of refusing to cover the transplant, CIGNA bowed to public pressure and agreed to cover the costs of the surgery. But Nataline’s family said by then it was too late. The teenager died less than an hour after CIGNA reversed its decision. The family’s attorney, Mark Geragos, said he plans to ask the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office to consider manslaughter or murder charges against CIGNA. Geragos said CIGNA signed the girl’s “death warrant” by delaying approval for a transplant.