Home Economics Homicide and Social Homicide: The Case of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson

Homicide and Social Homicide: The Case of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson

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Homicide and Social Homicide: The Case of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson

Rolling Stone weighed in on what those that verify into Twitter or TikTok have most likely already seen: Social Media Has Little Sympathy for Murdered Well being Insurance coverage Exec. At this level, there’s comparatively little new information concerning the killing of UnitedHealth’s Brian Thompson in Manhattan though it’s over a full day because the occasion.1 Police are underneath nice strain to unravel a excessive profile homicide shortly. The perp apparently was within the neighborhood earlier than the taking pictures, it’s not but clear how lengthy, though some opine not very lengthy. He shot Thompson twice, as soon as within the calf and as soon as within the torso. Gun professionals (we now have a tweetstorm under) clarify how the weapons selection and gun dealing with caught on movie reveal him to not be a professional.2

In case you haven’t heard, UnitedHealth was a standout denier of insurance coverage claims, which is a fraud that these corporations get away with on a pervasive foundation. Our story of tweets under exhibits not simply barely coded views that Thompson’s demise was karma, that the declare denials from which he profited resulted not simply in dozens however probably a whole bunch, even hundreds of preventable deaths, though vigilante justice shouldn’t be a socially fascinating approach to obtain redress.

Frankly, I’m stunned one thing like this has not occurred sooner. It’s not arduous to consider circumstances of the C-suite killing individuals for enjoyable and revenue. Ford Pintos. Opioid makers with habit creating gross sales methods, with Purdue Pharma the lead however removed from solely actor. Vioxx, the place Merck gamed the scientific trial knowledge to cover further coronary heart assault deaths, which have been so frequent that when the drug was taken off the market, that US mortality charge declined. Monsanto (now Bayer), the place the corporate would have its employees apply the Roundup weedkiller solely in heavy-duty protecting gear, however by no means issued equally stern warnings to prospects.

An in depth ally through the foreclosures disaster described a few of his circumstances from his days as a category motion and even particular person tort lawyer on mesothelioma circumstances. The top state of the most cancers is horrific, with the sufferers usually having their ribs break because the most cancers each fills up their chest cavity and drastically constricts their respiration capability. In a single, which I collect was not atypical, the protection attorneys saved deposing him, 10 hours a day, days on finish, in his deathbed within the hospital. They weren’t simply attempting to catch him in an inconsistency. They have been attempting to kill him quicker by way of the stress and discount of sleep so he wouldn’t be capable to testify in court docket.

He lived lengthy sufficient to take action. The spectacle of him being wheeled in, with an oxygen tube and dressed to indicate his distended higher torso was so appalling to jury that it was not arduous to determine that he had been desperately harmed, merely firming up how the defendant was accountable.

My contact needed to cease doing these circumstances. It was too psychologically draining though he would win large awards.

After which the protection bar acquired good at discovering methods to flee significant punishment. For example, Alabama had as soon as been a very good venue for this kind of case (forgive me for sparing you why). However the state Supreme Court docket is elected. These races quickly attracted extra in marketing campaign donations than any judicial contest within the US. At one level, the chief justice race acquired $13 million in donations, way over the governor’s race.

The consequence was any massive injury award in Alabama can be reduce on appeals to $1 million, as in sofa lint for a giant firm.

Now again to Thompson. I’ll let the tweets do the speaking since I don’t have a lot so as to add.

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1 I dimly recall from the numerous episodes of assorted crime exhibits my mom favored to have droning on whereas I used to be attempting to work that trails for suspects get chilly after 48 or 72 hours. Higher knowledgeable views welcome. Maybe the window has widened with extra pervasive surveillance tech.

2 These of you who eat homicide mysteries probably know this already, however a pal who began up a US operation in Moscow in 1993 and says she was the one individual in that period to sue a Russian oil firm, win in court docket, accumulate the cash and survive, had her ex-KGB driver clarify how skilled hits work. They take 3 individuals, A, B, and C. A does the killing. B has employed A. The consumer hires C, who finds B.

B kills A and is in flip killed by C in order to guarantee it is going to be very arduous to attach the consumer to the killing.

A is reasonable. B shouldn’t be.

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