U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr., of the Southern District of Florida has recused himself from an insurance coverage case against United Healthcare Insurance Company brought by Miami-based attorney Richard Cole, who alleges that the insurer refused to cover proton beam radiation therapy for his prostate cancer on the ground that the treatment was “experimental.” In his order of recusal, Judge Scola declared that “[t]o deny a patient this treatment, if it is available, is immoral and barbaric.”
Judge Scola explained that, in early 2017, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He said that the medical experts with whom he consulted opined that if he opted for radiation treatment, proton radiation was by far the wiser course of action. He added that a friend who had been diagnosed with cancer opted to have proton radiation treatment at M.D. Anderson in Houston but that his health care provider, United Healthcare, refused to pay for the treatment and did so “only upon threat of litigation.”
Judge Scola wrote that it was “undisputed among legitimate medical experts that proton radiation therapy is not experimental and causes much less collateral damage than traditional radiation.” He then declared:
To deny a patient this treatment, if it is available, is immoral and barbaric.
Judge Scola concluded his order by stating that his “opinions in this matter” prevented him from deciding this case “fairly and impartially.”
In a statement, United Healthcare told The Washington Post that it “bases its medical policies and coverage decisions – including for proton beam therapy – on the prevailing published clinical and scientific evidence.”
The case is Cole v. United Healthcare Ins. Co., No. 19-21258-CIV-SCOLA (S.D. Fla.).
Steven A. Meyerowitz
Steven A. Meyerowitz, a Harvard Law School graduate, is the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. He may be contacted at [email protected].