HENRICO, Va. — Sheldon Ekirch spends a lot of time on hold with her health insurance company.
Sometimes, as the minutes tick by and her frustration mounts, Ekirch, 30, opens a meditation app on her phone. It was recommended by her psychologist to help with the depression associated with a stressful and painful medical disorder.
In 2023, Ekirch was diagnosed with small fiber neuropathy, a condition that makes her limbs and muscles feel as if they’re on fire. Now she takes more than a dozen prescriptions to manage chronic pain and other symptoms, including insomnia.
“I don’t feel like I am the person I was a year and a half ago,” said Ekirch, who was on the cusp of launching her law career, before getting sick. “Like, my body isn’t my own.”
Ekirch said specialists have suggested that a series of infusions made from blood plasma called intravenous immunoglobulin — IVIG, for short — could ease, or potentially eradicate, her near-constant pain. But Ekirch’s insurance company has repeatedly denied coverage for the treatment, according to documents provided by the patient.
Patients with Ekirch’s condition don’t always respond to IVIG, but she said she deserves to try it, even though it could cost more than $100,000.
“I’m paying a lot of money for health insurance,” said Ekirch, who pays more than $600 …