Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP And Cooper & Kirk, PLLC File Class Action Lawsuit On Behalf Of Hepatitis C Patients Against Insurance Companies For Their Refusal To Cover Medically Necessary Treatment

RADNOR, Pa., March 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firms of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP and Cooper & Kirk, PLLC have filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota against UnitedHealth Group Inc., UnitedHealthCare, Inc., UnitedHealthcare Life Insurance Co., Optum, Inc. and OptumRx, Inc. (collectively "Defendants") for their unlawful denial of coverage and refusal to pay for Harvoni­ – a medically necessary treatment which can effectively cure chronic Hepatitis C ("CHC").

Hepatitis C is a contagious blood-borne virus that attacks the liver and affects millions of people in the United States.  The chronic form of Hepatitis C leads to a host of medical problems.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Harvoni exclusively for the treatment of genotype 1 CHC patients in October of 2014, calling it a "breakthrough" drug.  Harvoni is the first drug approved for the treatment of CHC that does not require combination with other drugs, and can effectively cure CHC in 94% to 100% of cases with little to no side effects.  Notwithstanding the life-saving treatment offered to CHC patients by Harvoni, Defendants have unlawfully limited Plaintiff's and class members' access to this miracle drug by developing arbitrary coverage criteria.

As detailed in the complaint, Plaintiff and class members were diagnosed with Hepatitis C, prescribed Harvoni by their physicians, and unlawfully denied coverage of Harvoni by the Defendants.  As a result, Plaintiff and class members have been and continue to be irreparably damaged by Defendants' denial of coverage for their medically necessary Harvoni treatment.