(CNN) A federal judge blasted UnitedHealthcare last month for its "immoral and barbaric" denials of treatment for cancer patients. Scola said that he ultimately opted for surgery but that "all the experts opined that if I opted for radiation treatment, proton radiation was by far the wiser course of action." Instead, the insurer noted that it updated its policies in January to allow more coverage of proton beam therapy for various cancers. In a major shift on prostate cancer specifically, the company said proton beam radiation and traditional radiation "are proven and considered clinically equivalent for treating prostate cancer." "We cover cancer therapies that have been clinically proven to be safe and effective, including, for some cancers, proton beam therapy.

Source: CNN May 16, 2019 08:15 UTC