WASHINGTON, June 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday in a Texas case that federal law severely limits suits in state court against health maintenance organizations.
The unanimous decision is a huge victory for HMOs, who would have faced greater peril in the state courts than federal courts over claims they failed to cover needed medical services, and thus injured their clients.
Writing for the full court, Justice Clarence Thomas said a federal law, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, pre-empts such claims in state court.
The decision resolves two combined Texas cases.
In one, a patient sued Aetna Health Inc. for delaying his physician-prescribed use of Vioxx for arthritis. Using another medication caused bleeding ulcers, he said.
The patient tried to sue in state court because his bleeding ulcers no longer allowed him to take Vioxx, and therefore he cannot sue under ERISA.
The second patient sued Cigna Healthcare of Texas Inc. for allegedly shortening her stay in a hospital following a hysterectomy.
