If the doctor prescribed it, it shouldn’t be the insurance company’s decision to deny it. That’s how it works in most countries.
Too bad it’s expensive, but that’s why people pay a lot more than $60/yr for insurance.
For example, my father in-law had prostate cancer. His health insurance covers prostate cancer, so the doctor was able to prescribe any medically proven treatment he had access to. The first treatment they tried was the one with highest percentage of success, and then changed it to other treatments depending on how the cancer responded.
Cost was never brought up, and they never heard complaints from the insurance company.
Lots of insurances accessible to middle class families also cover in-testing treatments that have shown success in other countries, if the patient matches conditions for the trial and other approved treatments didn’t work.
I’m saying that in many countries, like Brazil, an insurance company can’t deny a treatment for a covered condition because it’s too expensive.
So, for example, if the insurance covers prostate cancer, the doctor can prescribe any medically proven prostate cancer treatment and the insurance company can’t say they’ll only pay for a cheaper treatment.
That's exactly why his doctor wanted to do it, because it had worked in the past. This wasn't some insane lab experiment done by a fresh grad gastro doctor.