The Nebraska Supreme Court has sided with the University of Nebraska Medical Center in a malpractice case where doctors declined to give blood pressure treatment to a woman because of concerns she could not afford future doses.

The court said in its ruling Friday that interrupting the treatment could have had seriously and possible deadly consequences for Mary K. Murray.

The treatment at issue, Flolan, relaxes blood vessels and prevents clotting. It costs about $100,000 a year and must be administered 24 hours a day. If treatment stops, pulmonary blood pressure can rebound and be life-threatening.

The court said doctors in the case were wary of the health risks and decided not to administer the drug until the patient's insurer approved it, or another payment source could be found.