The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to deny a motion to dismiss filed by Aetna in a would-be class action lawsuit seeking payment of insurance benefits for eating disorders. In DeVito v. Aetna, Inc., Civil No. 07-0418 (FSH), the plaintiffs seek insurance benefits for treatment of their daughters’ eating disorders after insurance claims were denied based on limitations of coverage for “non-biologically based illnesses.” The court denied defendants’ motion seeking dismissal of the suit on abstention, primary jurisdiction, failure to exhaust policy procedures and admininstrative remdies, and other grounds. However, the court did rule that state law claims were preempted by ERISA, which will prevent the plaintiffs from recovering punitive damages and from being entitled to a jury trial.
This article by Henry Gottlieb in the New Jersey Law Journal, available on Law.com provides a good summary of the decision and explains its potential impact on similar pending class actions seeking insurance benefits for the treatment of eating disorders. http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1204212425418
Paul Karlsgodt
Raj Chohan
CAB Staff
