Shannen Doherty’s Lawsuit Reveals Actress Has Breast Cancer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shannen Doherty is battling breast cancer that worsened during a lapse in her health insurance caused by her former business managers, the actress claimed in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The former “Beverly Hills, 90210” star claims that her former business managers and accountants mismanaged her money and allowed her health insurance to lapse last year.

Because of that, she said she didn’t go to the doctor until she had insurance and there was a delay in diagnosing her cancer, which will likely require more drastic treatments, including a possible mastectomy and chemotherapy.

Doherty, 44, received the diagnosis in March and her doctors have said earlier treatment might have stopped its spread, the lawsuit states.

An attorney for the accounting firm Tanner Mainstain Glynn & Johnson denied the company caused Doherty’s health insurance to lapse.

“Tanner Mainstain is saddened to learn that Ms. Doherty is suffering from cancer and wishes her a full recovery,” the company’s attorney, Randall J. Dean, wrote in a statement. “However, the claim that Tanner Mainstain caused her to be uninsured, prevented her from seeking medical care, or somehow contributed to her cancer is patently false. Tanner Mainstain will aggressively defend all of Ms. Doherty’s claims in court.”