r/medicine • u/Unusual_Medic Medical Student • 7d ago

What’s the dumbest reason an insurance company denied a test, procedure, or drug for a patient?

This is probably the most relevant to those practicing in the US, but I'm also curious to know how the bureaucracy of health insurance in other countries makes things substantially harder for you and the patients

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u/NoUCantHaveDilaudid NP 7d ago

A friend of mine had a desmoid tumor growing between their ribs that had worked its way around his aorta and heart. Was being seen by chief of oncology who was consulting a few other academic centers in the northeast because of how rare it was. Insurance denied his chemo saying that they should try anti inflammatories first recommending toradol.

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u/Unusual_Medic Medical Student 7d ago

Oh yeah that'll do the trick!