Case Presentations


Adenocarcinoma of the right lung and the impact of high-dose IGRT 
Submissions
Bookstore
Vendors
Organizations
FAQ
Links
Disclaimer
Contact
Link Exchange

Half Lives


For Helen Loulache the end of treatment for breast cancer marked the beginning of a new battle.

This wife and mother endured surgery and seven weeks of radiation only to get slammed with a $43,000 dollar bill.

"I don't feel it's my fault," she said. "I had proper insurance. My coverage booklet says it includes 100 percent of radiation."

But apparently not for the type of radiation she received at the Caritas Foxboro Center. A technique called IMRT costs twice as much as standard radiation.

"We do offer this treatment to many of our patients with good results, and that's why the decision was made for this patient," said Tim Arnold, of the Caritas Cancer Care Program.

But Loulache's out-of-state insurer, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield of Rochester, New York, denied the claim calling IMRT experimental for breast cancer. On appeal three independent oncologists found IMRT was not more beneficial than standard treatment and said the denial should be upheld.

"I'm of the mind the insurance company is responsible for this," said Caritas' Arnold. "The treatment has been around for almost 10 years."

In an e-mail, Jim Redmond, a regional vice president for Excellus, said he could not comment on a specific member's case. But he added, "Our contracts exclude coverage of experimental treatments because they are not proven through clinical trials and peer-reviewed medical literature to be safe or effective."

The president of the Massachusetts Medical Society tells Team 5 Investigates this case points to a major problem.

"There isn't a bright line between what constitutes research and what constitutes advanced care. We really need that," said Dr. Dale Magee. "We don't have the same oversight with procedures and techniques that we do with drugs and devices."


Login Form






Lost Password?

Decay Calculator

calculator

Page Translation

Translate This Website

Polls

The site feature I find most useful is ....
 

Bookstore

Counter

Visitors: 462184

Newsfeed

Announcements, News and Notes to Myself

The first ASTRO 2007 abstracts are here and I've posted some key presentations below. Despite some impressive gains in latecomer technology like the Cyberknife and Tomotherapy, integrated platforms like the Novalis TX and the Elekta Synergy offer equivalent cutting-edge treatment capabilities in a more familiar linac-based platform. Should be an interesting show...Feedback to the site redesign is overwhelmingly positive. Your patience while I deal with various coding and server issues is appreciated...welcome Turkey, Samoa, Singapore and Qatar...

In the News - Radiotherapy

In the Journals (click ABSTRACTS above for archived posts)

In the News - Cancer