Killian v. Concert Health Plan

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge.

In February 2006, Susan Killian learned that she had lung cancer, which had spread to her brain. After physicians at Delnor Community Hospital determined that they could not operate, she sought a second opinion from a physician at Rush University Medical Center (“Rush”) and soon afterward was admitted for emergency brain surgery. Although the surgery successfully removed the most serious tumor, her cancer treatment was ultimately unsuccessful, and she died a few months later.

At the time of her diagnosis, Mrs. Killi-an was an employee of Royal Management Corporation…