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The Vibrant Life of Suzanne Somers in 16 Rare Photos

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The Vibrant Life of Suzanne Somers in 16 Rare Photos

Suzanne Somers was one of the most beloved pop culture icons of the ’70s and ’80s, thanks to her fabulously funny turn as Chrissy Snow on the sitcom Three’s Company. On Sunday, October 15, the actress, author and businesswoman sadly passed away at age 76 (just one day shy of her 77th birthday), following her 23-year battle with breast cancer. Somers was known for her vivaciousness, beauty and humor, and her legacy extends far beyond entertainment, as she was also something of an original “influencer” given the many books she wrote and her ubiquitous ’90s informercials for the ThighMaster workout device. In honor of Somers’ vibrantly singular spirit, we’re taking a look back at Suzanne Somers’ life in pictures.

Suzanne Somers’ early years

Born Suzanne Marie Mahoney in 1946 to a working-class family, Somers has described a traumatic childhood due to what she’s described as an abusive, alcoholic father. Following her high school graduation in 1964, she was eager to make a new life for herself.

Suzanne Somers’ 1964 high school yearbook photo© Roger Ressmeyer/CORBIS/VCG via Getty

In 1965, at 19, she married Bruce Somers, the father of her only child, also named Bruce. The couple divorced in 1968, though Somers kept the last name. She struggled mightily during this time, and was was even arrested for check fraud in 1970, but soon enough, Suzanne Somers’ life would be back on the road to success, and leave those dark days in the past.

Becoming an actress

Somers began her journey into the entertainment world in the late ’60s, working as a model on the game show The Anniversary Game. This job proved pivotal in her life, as it was where she met her future husband, Alan Hamel. They would marry in 1977, and remain together until her death.

In 1973, Somers got attention in the small but powerful role of a beautiful and mysterious woman driving a Thunderbird in George Lucas’ classic film American Graffiti. Her character didn’t have a name — she was credited as “Blonde in T-Bird” — but her charisma was such that she was featured on The Tonight Show.

Suzanne Somers in 'American Graffiti,' 1973
Suzanne Somers in American Graffiti (1973)@erinmurphybewitched/Instagram

Following this fortuitous film appearance, Somers began appearing on classic TV shows of the era like The Rockford Files, One Day at a Time, The Love Boat, Starsky and Hutch and The Six Million Dollar Man.

Suzanne Somers in Three’s Company

With a variety of single-episode TV appearances under her belt, Somers was ready to take on bigger and better roles, and in 1977, she was cast as the lovably ditsy Chrissy Snow on Three’s Company. The classic sitcom, in which Somers, Joyce DeWitt and John Ritter played a trio of roommates, quickly became a hit, thanks in large part to the charisma of its cast.

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Joyce DeWitt, John Ritter and Suzanne Somers in promotional shot for 'Three's Company,' 1979
Joyce DeWitt, John Ritter and Suzanne Somers in a 1979 promotional shot for Three’s CompanyABC Television/Courtesy of Getty

The often silly and innuendo-filled humor of Three’s Company defined late-’70s TV, and Somers became a sex symbol. Somers was always much more than the archetypal “dumb blonde” she so perfectly embodied on the show, and she wasn’t afraid to advocate for herself. In 1980, she demanded a raise. The show’s network, ABC, responded by firing her.

Suzanne Somers in 1979
Suzanne Somers flashes her signature smile in 1979Harry Langdon/Getty

In a 2022 Woman’s World interview, Somers recalled, “I was at the top of my game and the show was number one. But all the men were being paid more than me so I was at the bottom of the totem pole.” Somers knew her worth, explaining, “I created Chrissy — a dumb blonde that people care about. It’s not easy to do!”

Suzanne Somers posing with hay in 1979
Suzanne Somers posing in 1979Harry Langdon/Getty

While being fired from Three’s Company was a setback, it didn’t end Somers’ career. In fact, Somers would thrive in the following decades, and her fight for higher pay and acknowledgement that there was more to her blonde, smiling surface than meets the eye still resonates over 40 years after the fact.

Suzanne Somers at her home in 1979
Suzanne Somers at home in 1979Joan Adlen/Getty

Suzanne Somers in the ’80s

After Somers was let go from Three’s Company, she appeared in TV movies and mini series. “I had to reinvent,” she told Woman’s World in a 2021 interview. This need for reinvention led her to live performance, as she started a Las Vegas act and performed for US soldiers overseas.

Promotional shot for 'The Suzanne Somers Special,' 1982
Suzanne Somers promoting The Suzanne Somers Special, a 1982 TV special filmed in front of an audience of soldiersBettmann/Getty

Somers also tried her hand at film acting, starring alongside Donald Sutherland in the 1980 comedy Nothing Personal. The movie was poorly received, and Somers would always be best-known as a TV star rather than a movie star.

Suzanne Somers and Donald Sutherland in 'Nothing Personal,' 1980
Suzanne Somers and Donald Sutherland in Nothing Personal (1980)American International Pictures/Getty

That same year, Somers published Touch Me, a book of poetry. An autobiography, Keeping Secrets, followed in 1987 (in 1991, this book would be adapted into a TV movie biopic in which Somers played herself). From 1987 to 1989, Somers would return to a starring TV role in She’s the Sheriff. The show wasn’t nearly as popular as Three’s Company, but soon enough she’d totally reinvigorate her career.

Suzanne Somers in 1980
Suzanne Somers sparkles in 1980Harry Langdon/Getty

A new hit and an unforgettable infomercial

By the ’90s, Suzanne Somers’ life had changed and she was officially a small-screen veteran. In 1991 she was cast in the family sitcom Step by Step. She played Carol Foster-Lambert, a widowed mother of three who marries a divorced father (played by Patrick Duffy, of Dallas fame) with three kids of his own, making for a quirky but lovable blended family.

The show ran until 1998, and Somers was on it longer than Three’s Company, proving that she could play more mature characters and winning over new fans in the process.

Suzanne Somers and Patrick Duffy in 1994
Patrick Duffy and Suzanne Somers in 1994Walter McBride/Corbis via Getty

Not only did Somers make a triumphant return to the sitcom world in the ’90s, she also established herself as a serious businesswoman. If you ever flipped channels during the decade, you surely remember her ubiquitous infomercials for the ThighMaster, a workout device intended to firm up one’s thighs.

(Read more about retro fitness workouts here!)

Suzanne Somers in 1990
Suzanne Somers rocks a pastel workout look in 1990Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty

The ThighMaster was a huge success, and made Somers millions. She further established herself as a fitness guru by writing a number of books on natural health, diet and aging, and selling branded supplements and natural beauty products.

Suzanne Somers signs a copy of her book 'Eat Great, Lose Weight,' 1997
Suzanne Somers at an event for her 1997 book Eat Great, Lose WeightMark Perlstein/Getty

Today many actresses have ventured into the wellness space and branded themselves as lifestyle experts, but Somers did this long before it was a common path to take. Her ThighMaster infomercials remain some of the best-remembered ads of the ’90s, and you can still buy the device today.

Suzanne Somers ThighMaster packaging
The ThighMaster was all over TV in the ’90s@mikesdeadformats/Instagram

Somers in the 2000s

Throughout the early ’00s, Somers continued her reign as a savvy saleswoman with frequent appearances on the Home Shopping Network. She put her name on a variety of products and made appearances on Dancing With the Stars in 2015 and a slew of talk shows (she even hosted her own talk show in 2012!).

Suzanne Somers in 2003
Suzanne Somers flexes her muscles in 2003Vince Bucci/Getty

Suzanne Somers’ long marriage

Through all the ups and downs of her long career, Somers’ decades-long marriage helped her stay grounded. It was her husband, Alan Hamel, who encouraged her to advocate for better pay for her Three’s Company role, and in 2000, when Somers was first diagnosed with breast cancer, Hamel helped keep her positive.

Suzanne Somers and husband Alan Hamel poses for a portrait in 1980
Suzanne Somers and Alan Hamel in 1980Harry Langdon/Getty

In a 2021 Woman’s World interview, Somers gushed over Hamel, saying, “I must tell him I love him at least 10, 20 times a day.” In 2022, she added, “When I fall asleep at night and look over at my husband who’s so beautiful… I think ‘I’m so lucky.’ … After 54 years together he still says to me, ‘I’m so in love with you.’” Somers and Hamel were blessed with many years of happiness.

Alan Hamel and Suzanne Somers in 2022
Alan Hamel and Suzanne Somers in 2022Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Her vibrant light shines on

While Suzanne Somers may no longer be with us, her infectious positive energy will remain. In 2021, she told Woman’s World, “I wanted to be a weather girl and that was as high as my expectations ever went. I never dreamed that I’d have the life I have. I never dreamed I’d have the success I’ve had. But as it came, I put my arms around it and embraced it and had gratitude.” In her memory, we’ll be channeling her gracious and ever-smiling spirit and Suzanne Somers’ fervor for life.

Click through to see moving and heartfelt celebrity tributes to Suzanne Somers.


Read more about Suzanne Somers here:

7 Beautiful Principles That Suzanne Somers Swore By as Her Guiding Light

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The 8 Gems of Wisdom Kept Suzanne Somers on a Carousel of Joy Throughout Her Life

Hollywood Pays Tribute to Suzanne Somers: “She Was a Pure Light That Will Never Be Extinguished”

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As bird flu spreads, CDC recommends faster 'subtyping' to catch more cases

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As bird flu spreads, CDC recommends faster 'subtyping' to catch more cases

As cases of H5N1, also known as avian flu or bird flu, continue to surface across the U.S., safety precautions are ramping up.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Thursday its recommendation to test hospitalized influenza A patients more quickly and thoroughly to distinguish between seasonal flu and bird flu.

The accelerated “subtyping” of flu A in hospitalized patients is in response to “sporadic human infections” of avian flu, the CDC wrote in a press release.

ONE STATE LEADS COUNTRY IN HUMAN BIRD FLU WITH NEARLY 40 CONFIRMED CASES

“CDC is recommending a shortened timeline for subtyping all influenza A specimens among hospitalized patients and increasing efforts at clinical laboratories to identify non-seasonal influenza,” the agency wrote.

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The CDC now recommends accelerated subtyping of influenza A in response to “sporadic human infections” in the U.S. (iStock)

“Clinicians and laboratorians are reminded to test for influenza in patients with suspected influenza and, going forward, to now expedite the subtyping of influenza A-positive specimens from hospitalized patients, particularly those in an intensive care unit (ICU).”

LOUISIANA REPORTS FIRST BIRD FLU-RELATED HUMAN DEATH IN US

The goal is to prevent delays in identifying bird flu infections and promote better patient care, “timely infection control” and case investigation, the agency stated.

These delays are more likely to occur during the flu season due to high patient volumes, according to the CDC.

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Health care systems are expected to use tests that identify seasonal influenza A as a subtype – so if a test comes back positive for influenza A but negative for seasonal influenza, that is an indicator that the detected virus might be novel.

Patient on hospital bed

Identifying bird flu infections will support better patient care and infection control, the CDC says. (iStock)

“Subtyping is especially important in people who have a history of relevant exposure to wild or domestic animals [that are] infected or possibly infected with avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses,” the CDC wrote.

In an HHS media briefing on Thursday, the CDC confirmed that the public risk for avian flu is still low, but is being closely monitored.

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The agency spokesperson clarified that this accelerated testing is not due to bird flu cases being missed, as the CDC noted in its press release that those hospitalized with influenza A “probably have seasonal influenza.”

Niels Riedemann, MD, PhD, CEO and founder of InflaRx, a German biotechnology company, said that understanding these subtypes is an “important step” in better preparing for “any potential outbreak of concerning variants.”

Blood collection tubes H5N1 in front of chicken

The CDC recommends avoiding direct contact with wild birds or other animals that may be infected. (iStock)

“It will also be important to foster research and development of therapeutics, including those addressing the patient’s inflammatory immune response to these types of viruses – as this has been shown to cause organ injury and death during the COVID pandemic,” he told Fox News Digital. 

Since 2022, there have been 67 total human cases of bird flu, according to the CDC, with 66 of those occurring in 2024.

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The CDC recommends that people avoid direct contact with wild birds or other animals that are suspected to be infected. Those who work closely with animals should also wear the proper personal protective equipment (PPE).

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Sick Prisoners in New York Were Granted Parole but Remain Behind Bars

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Sick Prisoners in New York Were Granted Parole but Remain Behind Bars

When the letter arrived at Westil Gonzalez’s prison cell saying that he had been granted parole, he couldn’t read it. Over the 33 years he had been locked up for murder, multiple sclerosis had taken much of his vision and left him reliant on a wheelchair.

He had a clear sense of what he would do once freed. “I want to give my testimony to a couple of young people who are out there, picking up guns,” Mr. Gonzalez, 57, said in a recent interview. “I want to save one person from what I’ve been through.”

But six months have passed, and Mr. Gonzalez is still incarcerated outside Buffalo, because the Department of Corrections has not found a nursing home that will accept him. Another New York inmate has been in the same limbo for 20 months. Others were released only after suing the state.

America’s elderly prison population is rising, partly because of more people serving long sentences for violent crimes. Nearly 16 percent of prisoners were over 55 in 2022, up from 5 percent in 2007. The share of prisoners over 65 quadrupled over the same time period, to about 4 percent.

Complex and costly medical conditions require more nursing care, both in prison and after an inmate’s release. Across the country, prison systems attempting to discharge inmates convicted of serious crimes often find themselves with few options. Nursing home beds can be hard to find even for those without criminal records.

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Spending on inmates’ medical care is increasing — in New York, it has grown to just over $7,500 in 2021 from about $6,000 per person in 2012. Even so, those who work with the incarcerated say the money is often not enough to keep up with the growing share of older inmates who have chronic health problems.

“We see a lot of unfortunate gaps in care,” said Dr. William Weber, an emergency physician in Chicago and medical director of the Medical Justice Alliance, a nonprofit that trains doctors to work as expert witnesses in cases involving prison inmates. With inmates often struggling to get specialty care or even copies of their own medical records, “things fall through the cracks,” he said.

Dr. Weber said he was recently involved in two cases of seriously ill prisoners, one in Pennsylvania and the other in Illinois, who could not be released without a nursing home placement. The Pennsylvania inmate died in prison and the Illinois man remains incarcerated, he said.

Almost all states have programs that allow early release for inmates with serious or life-threatening medical conditions. New York’s program is one of the more expansive: While other states often limit the policy to those with less than six months to live, New York’s is open to anyone with a terminal or debilitating illness. Nearly 90 people were granted medical parole in New York between 2020 and 2023.

But the state’s nursing home occupancy rate hovers around 90 percent, one of the highest in the nation, making it especially hard to find spots for prisoners.

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The prison system is “competing with hospital patients, rehabilitation patients and the general public that require skilled nursing for the limited number of beds available,” said Thomas Mailey, a spokesman for the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. He declined to comment on Mr. Gonzalez’s case or on any other inmate’s medical conditions.

Parolees remain in the state’s custody until their original imprisonment term has expired. Courts have previously upheld the state’s right to place conditions on prisoner releases to safeguard the public, such as barring paroled sex offenders from living near schools.

But lawyers and medical ethicists contend that paroled patients should be allowed to choose how to get their care. And some noted that these prisoners’ medical needs are not necessarily met in prison. Mr. Gonzalez, for example, said he had not received glasses, despite repeated requests. His disease has made one of his hands curl inward, leaving his unclipped nails to dig into his palm.

“Although I’m sympathetic to the difficulty of finding placements, the default solution cannot be continued incarceration,” said Steven Zeidman, director of the criminal defense clinic at CUNY School of Law. In 2019, one of his clients died in prison weeks after being granted medical parole.

New York does not publish data on how many inmates are waiting for nursing home placements. One 2018 study found that, between 2013 and 2015, six of the 36 inmates granted medical parole died before a placement could be found. The medical parole process moves slowly, the study showed, sometimes taking years for a prisoner to even get an interview about their possible release.

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Finding a nursing home can prove difficult even for a patient with no criminal record. Facilities have struggled to recruit staff, especially since the coronavirus pandemic. Nursing homes may also worry about the safety risk of someone with a prior conviction, or about the financial risk of losing residents who do not want to live in a facility that accepts former inmates.

“Nursing homes have concerns and, whether they are rational or not, it’s pretty easy not to pick up or return that phone call,” said Ruth Finkelstein, a professor at Hunter College who specializes in policies for older adults and reviewed legal filings at The Times’s request.

Some people involved in such cases said that New York prisons often perform little more than a cursory search for nursing care.

Jose Saldana, the director of a nonprofit called the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign, said that when he was incarcerated at Sullivan Correctional Facility from 2010 through 2016, he worked in a department that helped coordinate parolees’ releases. He said he often reminded his supervisor to call nursing homes that hadn’t picked up the first time.

“They would say they had too many other responsibilities to stay on the phone calling,” Mr. Saldana said.

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Mr. Mailey, the spokesman for the New York corrections department, said that the agency had multiple discharge teams seeking placement options.

In 2023, Arthur Green, a 73-year-old patient on kidney dialysis, sued the state for release four months after being granted medical parole. In his lawsuit, Mr. Green’s attorneys said that they had secured a nursing home placement for him, but that it lapsed because the Department of Corrections submitted an incomplete application to a nearby dialysis center.

The state found a placement for Mr. Green a year after his parole date, according to Martha Rayner, an attorney who specializes in prisoner release cases.

John Teixeira was granted medical parole in 2020, at age 56, but remained incarcerated for two and a half years, as the state searched for a nursing home. He had a history of heart attacks and took daily medications, including one delivered through an intravenous port. But an assessment from an independent cardiologist concluded that Mr. Teixeira did not need nursing care.

Lawyers with the Legal Aid Society in New York sued the state for his release, noting that during his wait, his port repeatedly became infected and his diagnosis progressed from “advanced” to “end-stage” heart failure.

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The Department of Corrections responded that 16 nursing homes had declined to accept Mr. Teixeira because they could not manage his medical needs. The case resolved three months after the suit was filed, when “the judge put significant pressure” on the state to find an appropriate placement, according to Stefen Short, one of Mr. Teixeira’s lawyers.

Some sick prisoners awaiting release have found it difficult to get medical care on the inside.

Steve Coleman, 67, has trouble walking and spends most of the day sitting down. After 43 years locked up for murder, he was granted parole in April 2023 and has remained incarcerated, as the state looks for a nursing home that could coordinate with a kidney dialysis center three times each week.

But Mr. Coleman has not had dialysis treatment since March, when the state ended a contract with its provider. The prison has offered to take Mr. Coleman to a nearby clinic for treatment, but he has declined because he finds the transportation protocol — which involves a strip search and shackles — painful and invasive.

“They say you’ve got to go through a strip search,” he said in a recent interview. “If I’m being paroled, I can’t walk and I’m going to a hospital, who could I be hurting?”

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Volunteers at the nonprofit Parole Prep Project, which assisted Mr. Coleman with his parole application, obtained a letter from Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City in June offering to give him medical care and help him transition back into the community.

Still incarcerated two months later, Mr. Coleman sued for his release.

In court filings, the state argued that it would be “unsafe and irresponsible” to release Mr. Coleman without plans to meet his medical needs. The state also said that it had contacted Mount Sinai, as well as hundreds of nursing homes, about Mr. Coleman’s placement and had never heard back.

In October, a court ruled in the prison system’s favor. Describing Mr. Coleman’s situation as “very sad and frustrating,” Justice Debra Givens of New York State Supreme Court concluded that the state had a rational reason to hold Mr. Coleman past his parole date. Ms. Rayner, Mr. Coleman’s lawyer, and the New York Civil Liberties Union appealed the ruling on Wednesday.

Fourteen medical ethicists have sent a letter to the prison supporting Mr. Coleman’s release. “Forcing continued incarceration under the guise of ‘best interests,’ even if doing so is well-intentioned, disregards his autonomy,” they wrote.

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Several other states have come up with a different solution for people on medical parole: soliciting the business of nursing homes that specialize in housing patients rejected elsewhere.

A private company called iCare in 2013 opened the first such facility in Connecticut, which now houses 95 residents. The company runs similar nursing homes in Vermont and Massachusetts.

David Skoczulek, iCare’s vice president of business development, said that these facilities tend to save states money because the federal government covers some of the costs through Medicaid.

“It’s more humane, less restrictive and cost-effective,” he said. “There is no reason for these people to remain in a corrections environment.”

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Surgeon shares story of insurance provider calling during patient's surgery

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Surgeon shares story of insurance provider calling during patient's surgery

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A surgeon in Austin, Texas, was in the middle of surgery when she was notified of a phone call from the patient’s insurance provider.

Dr. Elisabeth Potter is a board-certified plastic surgeon who specializes in reconstruction for women who have had breast cancer. Last year alone, she did about 520 surgeries for cancer patients.

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She recently shared a video of herself talking about the experience.

HEALTH CARE COSTS UP TO 300% HIGHER FOR PRIVATELY INSURED PATIENTS THAN THOSE WITH MEDICARE, REPORT REVEALS

“I just performed two bilateral DIEP flap surgeries and two bilateral tissue expander surgeries,” she said in the now-viral video. 

(In DIEP flap surgery reconstruction, skin, fat and blood vessels from the patient’s abdominal area are used to rebuild breasts.) 

Dr. Elisabeth Potter, a Texas surgeon, recently shared a video of herself talking about a phone call that came in from an insurance company during a patient’s surgery.  (Dr. Elisabeth Potter; @drelisabethpotter)

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During one of the DIEP cases, while the patient was asleep on the operating table, the doctor was interrupted by a nurse supervisor informing her that a call had come in from UnitedHealthcare, the patient’s insurance company, Potter said.

The nurse who took the call said that Potter was in surgery and not available. 

“And they said, I need to get her a message because we need to talk to her about this patient,” Potter told Fox News Digital. “So they wrote a note and brought it into the operating room and I took a picture of it, because I’m like, I can’t believe this is happening.”

HEALTH CARE IS ‘OVERWHELMINGLY COMPLEX’ FOR OLDER ADULTS, EXPERTS SAY: ‘EVER-INCREASING HURDLE’

The note indicated the name and number of the person to call at UnitedHealthcare, along with the patient’s name and Dr. Potter’s name. (The note did not state that the caller had requested an immediate response.)

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“The nurse at the front desk of the OR who took the call and wrote this note said that the person on the phone first asked for the patient and then for me,” Potter told Fox News Digital. 

“I made that judgment call and I stand by that — I think it was the right thing to do for the patient.”

“He was told I was scrubbed in[to the] OR and he asked the nurse that I be contacted in OR and given the message.”

Added Potter, “The nurse manager said she had never in her career received a call like that before. She thought it must be important and brought the message to the OR.”

Dr. Elisabeth Potter

Dr. Elisabeth Potter, a surgeon in Austin, Texas, was in the middle of surgery when she was notified of a phone call from the patient’s insurance provider. (Dr. Elisabeth Potter; @drelisabethpotter)

It was odd, Potter said, that the insurance company had called the front desk of the hospital, where she is not an employee. 

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“They didn’t call my office. They didn’t call my cell phone. They didn’t send me an email. This wasn’t the billing department of the hospital.” 

Afraid that the insurance company might deny the patient’s service, Potter made the decision to scrub out mid-surgery to return the call to United. 

BOY FACING BLINDNESS GETS LIFE-CHANGING EYE SURGERY: ‘SUCH A BLESSING’

The surgeon stated to Fox News Digital that UnitedHealthcare did not require her to leave the operating room or threaten to deny coverage.

The patient was safe with another surgeon and the anesthesia team, who were finishing up the procedure.

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Dr. Elisabeth Potter

Dr. Elisabeth Potter is a board-certified plastic surgeon in Texas who specializes in breast reconstruction for women who have had breast cancer.  (Dr. Elisabeth Potter)

Potter was “scared” that the patient would wake up and find out that the insurance company said they didn’t have the information they needed and would deny the claim, she said.

“I’ve seen it before, when people get stuck with bills that are $80,000 or $100,000,” she said to Fox News Digital. “And so I said to my partners, ‘I’m going to make this call real quick.’” (See her video here.)

“Dealing with insurance is a really important part of taking care of patients affected by breast cancer, because the diagnosis is financially devastating.”

“If it had been at a critical moment during the surgery, I wouldn’t have,” Potter clarified. “But I made that judgment call and I stand by that — I think it was the right thing to do for the patient.”

On the phone, the insurance company stated that they needed to know the patient’s diagnosis and the justification for the inpatient stay, something Potter had already communicated, she said.

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WOMAN RECEIVES PIG KIDNEY TRANSPLANT, WALKS OUT OF HOSPITAL DAYS LATER: ‘SECOND CHANCE’

“And I was like, wait a minute, we got authorization for the surgery. We submitted all of our clinical documentation. We’ve done all the paperwork, the phone calls, all the stuff. You have her diagnosis codes, you have all of it,” she went on.

“And they said, ‘Actually, I don’t, another department has that, but I need this right now,’” Potter said. “There was a sense of entitlement to my time and to the information in that moment,” the surgeon added. 

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Potter also noted that the person on the line didn’t have access to the patient’s full medical information, despite the procedure already being pre-approved.

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“I’m not sure that person even understood that they had an impact on those patients I was operating on,” Potter told Fox News Digital. “They were just thinking about money and numbers and were not understanding at all.”

Insurance form

Potter was “scared” that the patient would wake up and find out that the insurance company said they didn’t have the information they needed and would deny the claim, the surgeon told Fox News Digital. (iStock)

“It’s beyond frustrating and, frankly, unacceptable,” she told Fox News Digital. “Patients and providers deserve better than this. We should be focused on care, not bureaucracy.”

Potter noted that she has always been “devoted” to providing care in-network through insurance. 

“Dealing with insurance is a really important part of taking care of patients affected by breast cancer, because the diagnosis is financially devastating,” she told Fox News Digital.

      

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“I’ve found that I really have to engage directly and think about insurance and whether they’re covering treatments and what my patients are experiencing.”

Potter emphasized that she doesn’t think insurance is “evil,” noting that there are some “really good things” about businesses that take care of people. 

Hospital front desk

It was odd, the surgeon felt, that the insurance company called the front desk of the hospital, where she was not an employee.  (iStock)

“But this has developed into something that no longer is devoted to patient care. This is just a machine that’s running and making money, and they don’t care about me as a provider,” she said.

Many physicians have given up and refuse to deal with insurance companies, opting to stay out of network and let the patient pay upfront and deal with getting reimbursed, Potter noted. 

“Patients and providers deserve better than this.”

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“I’ve gone to Washington, D.C., I have fought to protect access to [breast] reconstruction,” she said. “I have testified in the state legislature about these issues.”

She added, “It’s just getting undoable. And this moment, this week, was like, we’ve crossed a line — they’re actually in the operating room.”

HEALTH CARE OR HOUSING? MORE STATES ARE USING MEDICAID FUNDS TO HELP THE HOMELESS

Fox News Digital contacted UnitedHealthcare for comment. The company sent the following statement.

“There are no insurance-related circumstances that would require a physician to step out of surgery and it would create potential safety risks if they were to do so.”

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It went on, “We did not ask nor would ever expect a physician to interrupt patient care to answer a call and we will be following up with the provider and hospital to understand why these unorthodox actions were taken.”

UnitedHealthcare

Separately, the head of UnitedHealthcare group said on Thursday that the company remains “focused on making high-quality, affordable health care more available while making the health system easier to navigate for patients and providers.” (iStock)

Separately, the head of UnitedHealthcare group said on Thursday that the company is confident it will be able to grow its business in fiscal year 2025. 

“The people of UnitedHealthcare remain focused on making high-quality, affordable health care more available to more people while making the health system easier to navigate for patients and providers, positioning us well for growth in 2025,” CEO Andrew Witty said in the company’s earnings report on Thursday. 

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health

His optimism comes shortly after the head of its insurance unit was gunned down in New York City, inciting a heated conversation about the role of the health insurance industry in the United States. 

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Fox News Digital’s Daniella Genovese contributed reporting.

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