Shannen Doherty’s Tragic Battle: How An Insurance Mishap May Have Delayed Cancer Diagnosis
Shannen Doherty, the beloved actress known for her roles in “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Charmed”, sadly passed away at 53 after a long fight against breast cancer. Diagnosed in March 2015, Doherty had been openly battling the disease, sharing her journey with her fans.
However, a year before her diagnosis, Doherty had taken legal action against her former business manager. She claimed that due to their oversight, she was left without health insurance—a crucial time lost where her “invasive breast cancer” unknowingly spread.
She was later diagnosed with “invasive breast cancer metastatic to at least one lymph node” and underwent a series of treatments including a mastectomy and chemotherapy. By 2017, she joyfully announced her remission. However, the relief was short-lived.
In 2020, the devastating news came that her cancer had returned, this time diagnosed as stage four. Doherty continued treatment and shared her courageous fight with the world, only to find out the subsequent year that her cancer had spread even further, affecting her brain and bones.
Despite these challenges, Doherty underwent surgery in early 2024 to remove most of the tumor, followed by a new treatment plan. Tragically, her battle ended nine years after her initial diagnosis, at her home in Malibu, California.
Back in 2015, Doherty settled a lawsuit with the accounting firm Tanner Mainstain Glynn & Johnson, accusing them of financial mismanagement and failing to maintain her health insurance. She believed that had her insurance not lapsed, her cancer could have been detected sooner, potentially avoiding the need for extensive treatments.
In an emotional interview with Entertainment Tonight, Doherty shared her ordeal in 2016, explaining the complexities of her cancer’s spread and her subsequent treatments:
“I had breast cancer that spread to the lymph nodes, and from one of my surgeries we discovered that some of the cancer cells might have actually gone out of the lymph nodes. So for that reason, we are doing chemo, and then after chemo, I’ll do radiation,” Doherty revealed.
Despite her health struggles, Doherty continued to work, starring in “Darkness of Man,” an action movie released this year and available on Amazon Prime.
The news of her passing was confirmed by her publicist to People magazine, expressing the immense loss:
“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty. On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after many years of fighting the disease.”