In this week’s notable decision, Advanced Physicians, S.C. v. Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, et al., No. 3:16-CV-2355-G, 2020 WL 58698 (N.D. Tex. Jan. 3, 2020), a district court in Texas held that the fiduciary exception to the attorney-client privilege prohibits Cigna from withholding privileged documents from a medical service provider related to Cigna’s alleged wrongful denial of insurance claims under the NFL Player Insurance Plan (“Plan”).
By way of background, Advanced Physicians (“AP”) alleged that Defendant Great-West Healthcare-Cigna (“Cigna”), which has discretionary authority to make coverage decisions under the Plan, began wrongfully refusing to pay any of AP’s claims for services that it provided to retired NFL players. Advanced Physicians, S.C. v. Connecticut Gen. Life Ins. Co., 2017 WL 4868180 (N.D. Tex. Oct. 27, 2017). The court previously dismissed AP’s claim for relief under ERISA Section 502(a)(3) but permitted its claim for benefits under ERISA Section 502(a)(1)(B) to proceed. Advanced Physicians S.C. v. Connecticut Gen. Life Ins. Co., No., 2018 WL 1509120, at *3 (N.D. Tex. Mar. 27, 2018).
Continue Reading In NFL ERISA Suit, Court Finds Fiduciary Exception to Attorney-Client Privilege Applies to Cigna’s Privileged Documents