The Wall Street Journal
January  22, 1999

By Ron Winslow and R

Aetna Reels In Wake of $116 Million Verdict

Teresa Goodrich, widow of San Bernardino County District Attorney David Goodrich who died of a rare stomach cancer in 1995, brought suit against the Hartford Conn. insurance giant Aetna U.S. Healthcare. On Wednesday, January 20, 1999, the jury awarded the widow $116 million in punitive-damages coupled with a $4.5 million damages leaving Aetna and the insurance industry gasping for breath. One juror cited the most damaging piece of evidence "was the health plan handbook. Nowhere in 20 pages was there a single mention of experimental treatment. Yet all of the letters of denial were based on that."

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