Rebecca Shatsky: Why on earth would insurance get to decide how I practice medicine!

Rebecca Shatsky shared on X/Twitter:

“Just found out an insurance company is trying to deny my patient’s cancer medication because they don’t like that I want to start at a medium dose level and titrate up and tolerate! Why on earth would insurance get to decide how I practice medicine!

Hey Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield you do not get to pick what dose of abemaciclib I prescribe for my patients and you better fix this! There is excellent data for both 100mg and 150mg.

Denying a lifesaving cancer medication because you would rather my patient suffer intolerable toxicity starting at the highest dose that would make her not take the drug is just another sick game insurance has started playing to avoid paying.

As a breast cancer medical oncologist specialist, I pick the dose, not you. I promise I’ve got WAY more experience with this and knowledge of the data than whoever made the idiotic decision to deny this! ”

Source: Rebecca Shatsky/X

Rebecca A. Shatsky is an Associate Professor of Medicine and a board-certified medical oncologist at the University of California, San Diego. She specializes in treating breast cancer and is part of UC San Diego Health’s Precision Immunotherapy Clinic. Dr. Shatsky is a member of the NCCN guideline panel for Genetic/High-Risk Assessment of Breast, Ovarian, and Pancreatic Cancer and the panel for the treatment of Cancer-Associated Pain. Dr. Shatsky is a well known social media influencer.