Devoted to the Insurance industry and all thing related

This is a sad case of a behemoth company not caring enough about one individual in a very serious situation.  Tara Sadler sustained whiplash after “her husband hit the brakes to avoid a van fleeing police” according to Seattlepi.com.  It turns out the whiplash caused “a herniated disk that was pushing on her spinal cord.”   

Sadler subsequently had problems moving her right leg and arm and also had severe pain in her right shoulder and arm.  The following is a synopsis of what happened with her much needed surgery and State Farm.

“On June 11, 2004, Sadler went to Swedish Hospital in Seattle. She said the orthopedic doctor recommended surgery right away. He called in a neurosurgeon, Jayashree Srinivasan, who agreed to perform it.

 

Srinivasan called State Farm and learned that the insurance company would not approve payment for the surgery and that the company wanted Sadler to get a medical evaluation, according to Koehler. State Farm eventually set the appointment for July 19, Koehler said -- more than five weeks away.  

Sadler and her husband, who is self-employed, had no medical insurance other than the State Farm personal-injury policy. They say they had no other way of paying for the operation. Not knowing what else to do, Sadler went back to her chiropractor, James Milliron, on June 21.

According to Sadler's lawsuit, he faxed Srinivasan's report to State Farm, noting that Sadler needed surgery, writing, "TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE."

Sadler said State Farm moved up her appointment with its personal-injury doctor -- but by just four days, to July 15.

Sadler finally had surgery July 29. It failed to work, and she had a second surgery the following week. State Farm paid $25,000, the maximum under her insurance policy.

Srinivasan believes that if the surgery had been done sooner, Sadler probably would be doing well now, the doctor wrote in court papers.”

Money is the reason State Farm wanted to have a separate medical evaluation.  They didn’t want to pay for the surgery, even though the doctors were basically pleading with the insurer to allow it.  These types of cases seem to pop up when it comes to huge companies dealing with individual cases.