Fentanyl Overdose and Denied Death Claims

Too many fentanyl overdose death claims are denied by insurers. Sometimes they state the person “failed to follow their prescription”. But most often these deaths are of people who don’t even know they’re being given fentanyl. Illicit drug sellers are lacing other drugs like marijuana and cocaine with fentanyl. When analyzed correctly, death claims from fentanyl overdose should be paid.

More and more states are adopting laws that incriminate anyone who provides another person with a lethal dose of fentanyl. This changes the landscape of accidental death claims. Now, someone who dies from fentanyl toxicity, when the fentanyl was supplied by another person, is considered a homicide victim.

We specialize in the analysis and appeal of denied life insurance claims and accidental death claims related to fentanyl overdoses. If you have a death claim where the person overdosed on fentanyl — prescribed or not prescribed — contact us by phone or email to discuss your claim. The sooner you get us involved in the claim the better the chances are of getting these claims paid.

The occurrence of accidental deaths from fentanyl is a national disaster happening every day in America. This drug is so lethal that PLOS says,

Prescription opioid use is highly associated with risk of opioid-related death, with 1 of every 550 chronic opioid users dying within approximately 2.5 years of their first opioid prescription.

These statistics aren’t of drug abusers, they’re of people following doctor’s prescriptions for fentanyl.

Read: Death by drug overdose up 29% during COVID-19

Will an insurance company pay a claim for a fentanyl overdose?

Fentanyl is an opioid used for chronic pain management. In excessive amounts it can suppress breathing to the point of asphyxiation. Fentanyl is both addictive and lethal. The addictive part is what insurers like to focus on as their basis for denying accidental death claims.

A formal denial letter usually has some insinuation built into it that the insured was a fentanyl drug abuser. We know that, in most cases, this isn’t true. This is a scare tactic. They’re hoping to discourage the beneficiary from pursuing the claim any further.

Don’t be discouraged.

There’s no excuse for an insurer to deny a death claim on the basis that an accidental overdose was caused by the person exceeding their recommended dosage of fentanyl. Here’s why:

Prolonged Absorption of Transdermal Fentanyl

Fentanyl is often administered by a transdermal patch. The patch attaches to the skin and fentanyl is absorbed into the body. A single patch continues to push fentanyl into a body for 72 hours. Absorption doesn’t stop when the body expires and if no one removes that patch Fentanyl continues to secrete into the body postmortem. The fentanyl enters the dead body and accumulates because it isn’t flushed out.

According to a study concluded in 2013 and reported by the Journal of Toxicology, “Based on the variable relationship between dose and blood concentration, the antemortem dose cannot be reliably predicted based on the postmortem concentration.”

Insurers like to point to the amount of fentanyl recorded in Toxicology Reports as justification for denying claims. It goes something like, “The level of fentanyl recorded in the Medical Examiner’s report was beyond what was prescribed therefore the death claim is not payable under the Exclusions provision of the policy.”

This form of claim denial is ridiculous. Insurers know how fentanyl is administered and absorbed into the body. With the enormous amount of published data regarding the unreliability of postmortem fentanyl readings it’s malpractice for a life insurer to deny a claim for this reason.

Fentanyl and Drug-to-drug Interaction

Concomitant use of fentanyl and other prescribed medications. When a person uses two or more medications at the same time there is a drug-to-drug interaction. In other words, the various substances will affect the body in ways which can lead to an accidental death.

As just one single example, a person using both fentanyl concomitant with gabapentin increases their likelihood of dying by accidental overdose by 60 percent. Gabapentin alone can cause respiratory suppression. When mixed with fentanyl the possibility increases significantly and the fentanyl causes the body to absorb more gabapentin. The possibility of death is so significant that some doctors refuse to prescribe both medications to anyone.

Life insurers aren’t capable of or interested in performing drug-to-drug interaction analysis. Their efforts will be focused on prescription history reports and toxicology results. Limiting their scope and effort causes many legitimate life insurance claims to be denied.

Inhibited Metabolism

The effect of other factors (whether from prescribed drugs or otherwise) on metabolism, which in turn effects the body’s ability to metabolize fentanyl, may also cause a toxic build-up of fentanyl. For example, certain drugs affect the body’s metabolic process by inhibiting specific enzymes. These enzymes may be highly necessary to process fentanyl. When such enzymes are unable to perform fentanyl can quickly reach a toxic level.

Again, life insurers aren’t capable of or interested in delving into the pharmacological impact of the factors which may have impacted the deceased’s ability to metabolize. We can.

Each of the above complications can be the cause of death by a fentanyl overdose whereby the user complied with their recommended dosage. A person who dies under any of the above scenarios wasn’t a drug abuser nor exceeded their recommended dosage. The unfortunate outcome of death was an accident and in terms of life insurance death claims a claim is payable — under any contract.

A life insurance claim examiner who bases their denial on a Toxicology report that shows a level of fentanyl having exceeded a recommended dosage is inept or disingenuous. Of course the Toxicology report shows a lethal level of fentanyl. That doesn’t mean the person overdosed. It simply means the person’s body accumulated too much fentanyl. This is completely different than someone failing to follow their recommended fentanyl dosage.

We specialize in the analysis and appeal of denied death claims related to fentanyl overdoses. We get them paid. Zero $ down required. Free consultations. (*$100,000 minimum claim size). Contact us by phone or email to discuss your claim.