Danca v. Emerson Hospital
9 F.Supp.2d 27 (Cite as: 9 F.Supp.2d 27)
United States District Court, D. Massachusetts.
Pamela DANCA, Joseph Danca, Jr., Katelyn Danca and Lisa A. Danea, Plaintiffs,
v.
EMERSON HOSPITAL, Melrose-Wakefield Hospital, Phoenix Home Life Mutual Insurance Co., Private Healthcare Systems, Inc., Saroj Joshi, M.D., Mary Anna Sullivan, M.D. and James T. Chengelis, M.D.,
Defendants.
Civil Action No. 98-10029-PBS.
May 21, 1998.
Health plan beneficiary filed state tort claim against a health plan administrator for wrongful denial of a request for placement of the beneficiary in a requested psychiatric facility. Administrator removed the case to federal court and moved to dismiss. The District Court, Saris, J., held that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) preempted the beneficiary's state law claim against the administrator based on improper denial of request for pre-authorization for placement at a specifically requested psychiatric facility, despite the beneficiaiy 's claim that the administrator stepped beyond the scope of ordinary utilization review and participated in the actual medical treatment decisions that led to the beneficiary's attempted suicide.
Motion to dismiss granted.
*28 John W. Brister, Brister & Zandrow, Boston, MA, for Pamela Danca, Joseph J. Danca, Jr., Katelyn J. Danca & Lisa A. Danca.
Click here for the entire case on Google Scholar.