Lawsuit: Insurance companies conspiring with physician members of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
November 19th, 2017 Lynne LaRowe Texackana Gazette
Major health insurance companies are accused of putting profits over patients suffering from Lyme disease in a lawsuit filed recently in a Texarkana, Texas, federal court.
The suit alleges companies including Blue Cross, Kaiser and Aetna violated RICO and anti-trust laws when conspiring with physician members of the Infectious Diseases Society of America to create guidelines for testing and treating the tick-borne illness that don’t identify all of those infected and that leave many patients still suffering after their insurance refuses to cover necessary continued treatment.
The suit alleges that doctors who speak up against the IDSA guidelines or who treat patients with expensive antibiotics beyond the 28-day regimen outlined in the guidelines are subjected to retaliation, which includes the possible loss of their medical licenses. The complaint alleges the members of the IDSA panel who establish the Lyme disease guidelines are on the insurance companies’ payrolls and benefit financially from the conspiracy.