Family of man denied cancer treatment hopes $200M verdict spurs change

The loved ones of a Las Vegas guy who was denied wellbeing insurance coverage protection for a lung most cancers treatment method, then later on died, claimed Friday they hope a $200 million civil verdict issued by a Clark County jury versus their well being insurance policy provider prompts significant adjust.

“Maybe this will not come about to the upcoming individual,” Sandy Eskew, spouse of the late Bill Eskew, said Friday. “Maybe they will improve the way they do points. They just can’t be executing this. They don’t know additional than the medical professionals. It is just wrong.”

Bill Eskew’s loved ones and his family’s two lawyers, Matthew L. Sharp and Doug Terry, reported Eskew’s wellbeing challenges started off in summer 2015. He was taking part in golf with his son and a close friend in northwest Las Vegas when he instantly felt a sharp ache in his arm upon hitting his initially shot of the day.

“He explained, ‘I feel I dislocated my elbow,’ ” his son, William Eskew Jr., recalled.

“He started off perspiring,” his son said. “He was in soreness. I ran and acquired my truck, I drove it down. I bought him in the truck, and I rushed him above to the hospital.”

What Invoice Eskew imagined was a dislocated elbow, having said that, turned out to be significantly even worse.

“They took X-rays and they explained, ‘No, it is a pathologic fracture from lung cancer,’ ” Sandy Eskew reported. “We did not know he experienced lung most cancers. It was a nightmare.”

Invoice Eskew was dedicated to combating for his life, but about the exact time, the family’s well being insurance plan company declared it would no longer be supplying non-public health insurance coverage. So, the relatives experienced to come across a new company by Jan. 1. Sandy Eskew took a third job to pay roughly $1,100 a thirty day period for a policy with Sierra Well being and Life. She informed an insurance plan broker right before the plan was secured that Monthly bill had lung most cancers and that the spouse and children was interested in pursuing a remedy regarded as proton therapy if he was a prospect.

The proton therapy procedure ultimately was encouraged by Eskew’s medical doctors at MD Anderson Cancer Heart in Texas simply because it can target the spot of the cancer, Terry reported, when resulting in significantly less harm to a patient’s healthier tissues. Inspite of the advice, the protection was denied by Sierra Health and fitness.

”He was devastated,” Sandy Eskew claimed. “He could not comprehend why an insurance plan enterprise would know far more than his medical professional. … He would question me that query each individual working day.”

The spouse and children stated they experienced no decision but to carry on with one more kind of radiation remedy, which prompted key damage to Bill’s esophagus. What adopted was a 12 months of struggling for the reason that Invoice could not swallow foodstuff or h2o without enormous pain. Monthly bill died in 2017, around a 12 months after his procedure began.

“It was awful,” claimed Bill’s daughter, Tyler Eskew. “We viewed him wither away.”

Provider to enchantment

Sandy Eskew reported she had inquired about her new health insurance policies coverage prior to securing it.

“They knew I was seeking at proton therapy if he was a prospect,” Sandy explained.

Immediately after her husband’s demise, she hired her lawyers to obtain out how Sierra Overall health could have denied the coverage. Sharp and Terry mentioned they filed a lawsuit, then discovered that Sierra Overall health had what Terry identified as a corporate health care coverage that dictated it would not go over proton remedy for lung cancer, declaring it was not medically important.

“Sandy did not know about this when she bought the coverage,” Terry reported.

The household sued in 2019 and won an preliminary $40 million verdict this thirty day period in District Court in Las Vegas. The civil jury then awarded an additional $160 million in punitive damages against Sierra Health and fitness in the courtroom of District Choose Nadia Krall.

Sierra Overall health is a UnitedHealthcare firm, which is owned by UnitedHealth Group. The company plans to charm, a spokeswoman stated.

“We are unhappy by the jury’s verdict,” UnitedHealthCare spokeswoman Maria Gordon Shydlo stated in an e-mail. “The verdict and damages awarded do not replicate the info of the situation or the guidelines that use in this article,” she mentioned.

Tyler Eskew said her father was a loving male who was all about family members. He cherished his grandchildren and liked dwelling in Las Vegas. She and her brother said they hope that the family’s litigation prospects to modify at Sierra Wellbeing.

“That’s why you get insurance coverage,” Sandy said. “So you can have peace of thoughts. They are supposed to consider treatment of you.”

Call Glenn Puit by email at [email protected]. Stick to @GlennatRJ on Twitter.