In yet another devastating example of corporate health care bureaucracy gone rogue, Cigna Healthcare has come under fire for abruptly denying coverage for a potentially life-saving lung transplant—just hours before a cancer patient was set to board a plane for surgery.
Deron Wells, a 59-year-old husband and father of three, was preparing to leave a Los Angeles hospital last Friday to undergo a rare double lung transplant in Chicago as part of a clinical trial. That hope was crushed when Cigna, his insurance provider, reversed its prior approval and left him stranded—fighting for his life and breath.
“It’s devastating to me,” Wells said in an emotional interview with ABC 7. “I’m really sad that my life is in the hands of these decision-makers who seem to make these decisions in such a cold way.”
Wells, who is battling stage 4 lung cancer, had already been accepted into the clinical trial at Northwestern Medicine. For him, the transplant wasn’t just experimental—it was his only remaining shot at survival. His wife, Janet Savarimuthu, pleaded with the insurance giant to reconsider.
“This is the last option we have … period,” she said. “I hope Cigna really understands the seriousness of the situation. We’re not just a number. We are talking about his life.”
But Cigna, like so many other health care behemoths, is hiding behind its so-called “coverage guidelines,” which it claims are “grounded in national clinical standards.” Translation: they’ll happily collect premiums, but when it’s time to pay for life-saving care, they tighten the purse strings and leave desperate families hanging.
The cold truth? Lung transplants for cancer patients aren’t standard—because they’re expensive and complicated. And while Wells was approved to participate in a cutting-edge clinical trial, that didn’t stop Cigna from pulling the rug out at the last possible moment.
Let’s be clear: this wasn’t about science. It was about dollars.
Wells has appealed the decision, clinging to hope that Cigna might reverse course. But the clock is ticking, and his condition is deteriorating. Friends and family have now turned to the American public, launching a fundraiser in a last-ditch effort to pay out of pocket for the transplant their insurer promised—then denied.
“I’m truly hoping that Cigna will change its tune and will have a positive outlook on this,” Wells said. “Because I’m not done yet.”
This tragic case is a stark reminder of how broken our health care system is—particularly when profit-driven corporations hold the power of life and death over American families. While Democrats push for more bureaucracy and government-run health systems, Americans should be asking: who’s really advocating for patients?
Right now, it sure isn’t Cigna.
