Marvin is Dead

No, not Marvin the Martian. As far as I now, Marvin is alive and kicking, somewhere out there in Looneytoon Land.

I am referring to Mr. Marvin Pollet, of Louisiana. Marvin Pollet is dead.

He was killed by his health insurance carrier.

Mt. Pollet’s case was featured recently on an episode of ABC’s fantastic new documentary Boston Med. If you haven’t seen it yet – please tune in. It airs on Thursday nights at Ten. You can read all about Mr. Pollet’s tragic case here:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/BostonMed/boston-med-episode-patient-doctor-bond/story?id=11215289

Mr. Pollet suffered from a rare condition amyloidosis, which was slowly destroying his heart. His cardiologist in Louisiana referred Mr. Pollet to Massachusetts General Hospital for evaluation for a heart transplant, but his health insurance carrier denied the visit at the last minute. As his heart continued to deteriorate, Mr. Pollet’s family finally brought him to Massachusetts General Hospital three weeks later. The transplant team, after evaluating him, gave the green light for a transplant, but poor Mr. Pollet did not survive the wait. His doctors concurred that, if he came three weeks earlier, as originally scheduled, Mr. Pollet would have had his heart in time to save his life.



While nothing now can bring Mr. Pollet back, there is something that his family can do to avenge his death and, perhaps, prevent a similar injustice from happening to another patient in the future. First, they should find out WHO at the health insurance carrier made the ultimate decision not to allow the initial visit with Massachusetts General Hospital. Most likely, the responsibility will fall on a ‘Medical Director’. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, an insurance company ‘Medical Director’ is a soulless physician who could not make a living practicing medicine in the real world, so they spend their days saving health insurance carriers money by denying care. Anyway, once this ‘Medical Director’ is identified, they should see if he or she is licensed to practice medicine in both Louisiana AND Massachusetts. If they are not licensed in BOTH States, Mr. Pollet’s family should sue them for wrongful death and practicing medicine without a license. If, by small chance, they are licensed in both States, they should be sued for medical malpractice. In either case, ‘Medical Directors’ everywhere should be put on notice that bad medicine cannot hide behind the facade of an insurance carrier. Would they win their case? It’s debatable, but is patients don’t start fighting back, preventable deaths like Mr. Pollet’s will be repeated again and again.

There is another thing that Mr. Pollet can teach us all, and perhaps save our life someday, or the life of a loved one. Here is that little pearl of wisdom – please right it down somewhere:

When it comes to our health, especially when the situation is critical, it is better to ask for forgiveness afterward then it is to ask for permission before.

In other words, always go with the opinion of a doctor that you trust, and is who is intimately familiar with the case, over the opinion of some faceless insurance company bureaucrat who couldn’t pick the patient out of a lineup. If the care is indeed justified, the insurance company will eventually pay, even if you have to fight for the payment. If needed, you can always file a complaint with your State’s Department of Insurance, whose job is to oversee all insurance carriers and make sure that they pay the legitimate claims of their policyholders.

Rest in peace, Marvin.






***** Found this Interesting, Entertaining or Informative? Please read the complete blog at: *****
http://healthcarehullabalo.blogspot.com/

Free Blog Counter