Nataline Sarkisyan dies before Cigna approved liver

Nataline Sarkisyan died Thursday only hours after Cigna HealthCare decided to pay for a liver transplant. The 17-year-old’s family is now blaming Cigna for her death as the insurance company initially denied payment for the requested liver transplant.

On Thursday, Cigna reversed their decision and approved payment for the operation, but it was too late. Nataline died that night around 6 p.m. at the University of California in Los Angeles.

Nataline battled leukemia and was given a bone marrow transplant from her 21-year-old brother Bedros. After the bone marrow transplant, Nataline developed complications that caused her liver to fail. Doctors wrote to Cigna on December 11 telling them that the teen needed the transplant. The insurance company denied payment.

Thursday’s decision to pay for the operation came after 150 teens and nurses protested outside Cigna’s office in Glendale, California.

The family’s attorney, Mark Geragos, plans to ask the district attorney to press murder or manslaughter charges against Cigna. Geragos said the company “maliciously killed her” when they refused to pay for the operation. However, the DA said Geragos must give evidence of murder or manslaughter before they will press charges.

“She passed away, and the insurance (company) is responsible for this,” said Nataline’s mother Hilda.

“They took my daughter away from me,” added her father, Krikor.

Cigna claims the operation was too experimental to approve it.

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