Dr. Linda Rozell-Shannon, President and Founder of VBF is thrilled to announce that a letter has been signed by the President of the American Academy of Pediatrics and sent to all insurance companies in the United States establishing the medical necessity for treatment of vascular birthmarks.

Dr. Linda drafted the letter in December with the hope that the outgoing President of the AAP, Dr. Thomas McInerny, with whom she had established a relationship, along with Dr. Bernard Cohen, Chairman of the AAP Dermatology section, could get the letter signed and issued before Dr. McInerny’s term in office came to a close. Dr. McInerny and Dr. Cohen have been working with Dr. Linda on making numerous changes within the American Academy of Pediatrics regarding the treatment of vascular anomalies. This letter was a final push to get insurance companies to cover treatment. The letter was forwarded by Dr. McInerny to an internal reviewe committee. Changes were made and the letter went forward to the new President who took office on January 1, 2015. Dr. Linda was thrilled to get a copy of this letter on March 6, 2015 signed by the current President of the AAP, Dr. Sandra G. Hassink, MD, FAAP. To quote Neil Armstrong, “This is one small step for man, but one giant leap for mankind.”