BY DANIEL CHANG
April 30th, 2019
A federal judge in Miami removed himself from a case on Monday after saying that he could not be impartial in deciding a lawsuit that challenges UnitedHealthcare, one of the nation’s largest health insurance companies, over its denial of coverage for a patient who sought cutting-edge treatment for prostate cancer.
Calling it “immoral and barbaric” to deny a patient proton beam radiation therapy for cancer if available, U.S. District Judge Robert Scola withdrew from the case after citing his personal experience with prostate cancer in 2017, noting that he had consulted with top medical experts during the ordeal.
“All the experts opined that if I opted for radiation treatment, proton radiation was by far the wiser course of action,” Scola wrote. The judge added that he opted for surgery, but that “those opinions [are] still resonant.”
Scola further cited a “close friend” who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2015 and paid $150,000 out-of-pocket for proton beam therapy. It was only upon threatening a lawsuit, Scola said, that the health insurer, UnitedHealthcare, reimbursed his friend.
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