Stricken with Cancer, Actress Shannen Doherty Sues Over Insurance Coverage

Saying she is battling breast cancer, former “Beverly Hills, 90210” actress Shannen Doherty sued her former business managers today for allegedly making her condition worse by neglecting to pay a medical insurance premium on her behalf.

Doherty, 44, filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Tanner, Mainstain, Glynn & Johnson. The suit’s allegations include negligence, breach of contract and a claim the company put its own interests ahead of those of the actress.

Doherty seeks unspecified damages.

A representative for the firm did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.

According to the lawsuit, Doherty lost her Screen Actors Guild medical insurance in February 2014 after the company failed to pay her premium, causing the policy to be canceled. Because she had no insurance, she did not regularly visit a physician, the suit states.

After the coverage was reinstated, Doherty made a doctor’s appointment and was told in March that she has breast cancer, the suit states.

“Plaintiff also was informed that had she been insured and able to visit her doctor, the cancer could potentially have been stopped, thus obviating the need for the future treatment that (she) likely will have to suffer through now,” according to the complaint.

Doherty has not been able to work since the diagnosis and the news of her illness has caused her “severe emotional distress,” the suit states.

Doherty played the character Brenda Walsh on “Beverly Hills, 90210” from 1990-94 and portrayed Prue Halliwell in “Charmed” from 1998-2001.

City News Service; Photo: Wikimedia Commons