The
nation
was
transfixed
by
the
December
murder
of
UnitedHealthcare
CEO
Brian
Thompson,
and
the
subsequent
arrest
of
Luigi
Mangione,
which
seemed
to
implicate
the
American
healthcare
system
as
a
motive
for
the
attack.
It
also
spurred
a
ton
of
vitriol
against
the
industry
—
and
UnitedHealthcare
specifically.
Now
the
company
is
fighting
back
against
social
media
posts
it
says
are
inaccurate.
The
company
has
hired
defamation
boutique
law
firm
Clare
Locke,
according
to
reporting
by
Bloomberg
Law.
The
firm
has
already
sent
a
demand
letter
to
a
doctor
that
is
using
her
social
media
platform
to
speak
out
against
the
company.
Dr.
Elisabeth
Potter
posted
on
Instagram
that
UnitedHealth
denied
a
patient’s
post-surgery
stay
saying,
“I
had
to
scrub
out
mid-surgery
to
call
United,
only
to
find
that
the
person
on
the
line
didn’t
even
have
access
to
the
patient’s
full
medical
information,
despite
the
procedure
already
being
pre-approved.”
According
to
Potter’s
legal
team,
they’ll
be
leaning
into
the
truth
as
a
defense:
One
of
Potter’s
attorneys,
Jessica
Underwood,
said
Potter
received
a
Jan.
13
letter
from
Clare
Locke
demanding
that
she
correct
her
posts,
apologize
to
UnitedHealth
and
condemn
threats
of
violence
that
the
law
firm
said
resulted
from
the
posts.But
Underwood,
of
the
law
firm
Nix
Patterson,
said
Potter’s
statements
about
the
insurer
were
truthful.
“Dr.
Potter
will
not
be
silenced
by
UnitedHealthcare’s
attempts
to
threaten
and
harass
her,”
Underwood
said.
According
to
UnitedHealthcare,
“Dr.
Potter’s
claims
that
she
was
called
out
of
surgery
are
false.
There
are
no
insurance
related
circumstances
that
would
require
a
physician
to
step
out
of
surgery
and
it
would
create
potential
safety
risks
if
they
were
to
do
so.”
This
isn’t
the
first
time
post-Thompson’s
death
that
UnitedHealthcare
has
taken
an
aggressive
legal
stance.
But
even
the
best
lawyering
can’t
stop
the
zeitgeist.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].