Justifying Murder of United Healthcare CEO

Recently, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare was gunned down in a brazen and calculated act by a murderer. The alleged killer had a life of privilege with top drawer education. He was the valedictorian of his high school class. We still do not know the reasons underlying his radicalization against the health care establishment.

It has been astonishing to hear and read many voices expressing sympathy and understanding for this heinous act. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Really? It is galling that some out there believe that acting against a health insurance executive should be considered a mitigating factor in a murder.

Indeed, a U.S. senator commenting on the murder decried violence but then added that ‘people can be pushed only so far’. Public outrage to this forced her to do some clean up a day later, but her initial instincts and analysis remain in plain sight.

The senator needed to 'clarify' her initial remarks.

If a man shoots up the owner of a liquor store because he is rabidly against alcoholism, does this lessen the crime or even deserve any consideration? Perhaps, his lawyer might argue that it does, which I understand, but the rest of us should remain more clear-eyed. How does this hypothetical headline grab you? Man guns down flight attendant after flight delay and loss of luggage. I could offer many other similar examples and so could you.

In addition, the alleged assailant’s attractive physical appearance is also frequently mentioned. Please explain to me the relevance of this.

I don’t think that the excesses and abuses of the health insurance company should even be mentioned in the same sentence, paragraph, news article or commentary unless it is to reject this juxtaposition with the crime committed. If we wish to take this industry to task, then there are separate and appropriate forums to do so.

This blog has nearly 900 posts many of which are critical of insurance companies, the health care system and medical professionals including myself. I will continue doing so. Indeed, this is the raison d’etre of this blog which has been percolating weekly for over 15 years.

We cannot allow the motivations of a deranged criminal to sanitize a violent act. Again, I expect that argument might go forth in a court of law, but those of us who serve on the ‘jury’ in the court of public opinion might judge the matter differently.

Comments

Becoming a Part-Time Physician

Next month my schedule will change. I will henceforth be off on Fridays with my work week truncated to Monday through Thursday. I am excited to be enjoying a long weekend every weekend. And while the schedule change is relatively minor, this event does feel like an important career moment for me. It is the first step on a journey that will ultimately lead beyond my professional career. It is this recognition that makes this modest schedule modification more significant than one would think it deserves. As some readers know, my current employed position has been a dream job for me. Prior to this, I was in a small private practice, which I loved, but was much more challenging professionally and personally. My partner and I ran the business. Working nights, weekends and holidays were routine for decades. On an on-call night, if I slept through until morning, I felt as if I had won the lottery. And w...

When Should Doctors Retire?

I am asked with some regularity whether I am aiming to retire in the near term. Years ago, I never received such inquiries. Why now? Might it be because my coiffure and goatee – although finely-manicured – has long entered the gray area? Could it be because many other even younger physicians have given up their stethoscopes for lives of leisure? (Hopefully, my inquiring patients are not suspecting me of professional performance lapses!) Interestingly, a nurse in my office recently approached me and asked me sotto voce that she heard I was retiring. “Interesting,” I remarked. Since I was unaware of this retirement news, I asked her when would be my last day at work. I have no idea where this erroneous rumor originated from. I requested that my nurse-friend contact her flawed intel source and set him or her straight. Retirement might seem tempting to me as I have so many other interests. Indeed, reading and ...

Will Smarter Lawyers End Frivolous Lawsuits?

How do you know if a lawyer is any good? Of course, they've all passed the bar, but now their profession is lowering it. While most of us strive for excellence, and raise our children to value this virtue, prominent legal educators are establishing a new quality intitiative for their profession. Who says that lawyers can't reform themselves? Perhaps, we physicians can follow their bold example and raise the credentials of our pre-medical students. I’ll present the facts. You be the judge. I have written a dozen posts on tort reform on this blog, which always generate spirited and adversarial retorts from attorneys and their supporters. They accuse me and other tort reform advocates of carrying water for insurance companies. They repeatedly point out that I know nothing about the legal system and are unqualified to opine on its flaws. They deride me when I argue that effective tort reform would reduce the practice of defensive medicine, despite the re...

MD Whistleblower

Search This Blog