Aetna backs off a colonoscopy change

New York Times, February 28, 2008

Aetna has announced that it had suspended a plan to stop paying for routine use of a powerful anesthetic in a procedure to screen for colon cancer. The drug, propofol, provides quick and reliable sedation for patients who are undergoing a colonoscopy. Critics had said that restricting use of propofol would discourage patients from undergoing a colonoscopy. The American Gastroenterological Association, a medical society representing the doctors who perform colonoscopies, had recommended that Aetna defer its plan and praised the company for the decision.