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Cigna's transplant case: A responsible decision

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Contributed by: Michael Turner on 12/26/2007

Companies need to make decisions on what is good for the bottom line, but at the same time they need to show compassion toward their clients. This can be difficult when you are Cigna Healthcare and a life is on the line.

When I was public relations director at the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging, decisions were being made daily that impacted the lives of the residents.

In Cigna's case, the client was a 17-year-old girl who was waiting for a liver transplant and if she received one, doctor's gave her a 65 percent chance of surviving another six months.

The procedure was covered under her mother's health insurance, but Cigna refused to authorize the transplant because it was deemed "experimental."

Under pressure from the media and the family, Cigna reversed its decision and approved the surgery; however, the authorization came a day after the girl died.

Since I am not privy to the process or criteria used by Cigna to make its initial ruling, it is difficult to give a definitive answer if the company acted appropriately. However, with 30 years of public relations counseling to CEOs and senior executives, I understand that companies make life-and-death decisions all the time.

If due diligence was employed during the process and all options were thoroughly explored before coming to its conclusion, then the company acted responsibility.

I know that when there is someone's life on the line, the issue becomes emotionally charged. I have compassion for the girl's parents and understand the tremendous stress and strain they were under during the final months of their daughter's life.

Certain corporate decisions cannot be effectively made in the court of public opinion or from media pressure. Its clouds the real issues and does not serve the larger goal of meeting the best interests of society as a whole.

Cigna handled this crisis adeptly and it was unfortunate that it had to reverse course because of undo scrunity from the media.

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