Regret format and duplication (if any).

> Date:    Wed, 5 Jan 2000 03:09:33 PST
> From:    Advocates for Full Community Inclusion <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Girl Awarded $80M in Humana Suit (Florida)
>
> To ADA-LAW listers,
>
> the following article appeared on Tuesday's AP wire:
>
> ----Original Article Follows----
> Girl Awarded $80M in Humana Suit (Jan. 4, 2000)
> WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Humana (NYSE:HUM - news) Health
Insurance
> C=
> o.
> must pay a girl with cerebral palsy almost $80 million because it
> improperly=
>
> terminated her treatment and lied to her parents, a Florida jury ruled
> Tuesday.
>
> Nine-year-old Caitlyn Chipps and her parents will receive $1 million
in
> compensatory damages and $78.5 million in punitive damages from Humana
> an=
> d its
> Florida subsidiary.
>
> Louisville, Ky.-based Humana denied any wrongdoing and said it would
> appe=
> al,
> calling the award excessive.
>
> ``This wasn't about the welfare of Caitlyn Chipps,'' said Humana
> spokesma=
> n
> Dick Brown. ``This case was about lawyers trying to hit the jackpot.''
>
> The Palm Beach County Circuit Court jury found that Humana violated
its
> o=
> wn
> rules in 1995 when it removed the girl from a special program for
> chronic=
> ally
> ill patients.
>
> The Chipps' lawyer, Theodore J. Leopold, said Humana insured Caitlyn
> thro=
> ugh
> its high-intensity Medical Case Management Program until it summarily
> dismissed the cases of Caitlyn and about 100 other chronically ill
> childr=
> en.
>
> Leopold said Humana told Chipps his daughter's records had been
reviewed
> =
> and
> she no longer needed such intensive treatment. Cerebral palsy is a
birth
> defect that impairs motor control and coordination.
>
> Caitlyn was reinstated to the case management program after her
parents
> f=
> iled
> suit.
>
> Brown, the Humana spokesman, said Caitlyn was not summarily dismissed
> fro=
> m the
> program and that her case was reviewed by doctors. He also said that
> independent doctors testified during the trial that Caitlyn had not
> suffe=
> red
> any setbacks while she was out of the program. =
>
> ----End of Article----
> Dave Reynolds
> Spangle, Washington USA
> [log in to unmask]
> [log in to unmask]
>
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