UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty responded to the social media celebration following the murder of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, and called it absolutely inappropriate, aggressive and highly disrespectful. UnitedHealth Group is the mother company and UnitedHealthcare is the health benefits business of UnitedHealth Group.
50-year-old Brian Thompson was killed by a masked man in front of an NYC hotel. The killer has not yet been nabbed but according to NYPD investigators, the killer might be a disgruntled former staff or customer. Social media users, including doctors, journalists celebrated the murder of Thompson and started calling the murderer a ‘hero’ as they recounted their experience of being denied the insurance payout by the company that endangered many lives.
In his address to the company staff, which was an internal video, Witty said, “You’ve seen a lot of media interest in this situation with a huge amount of misinformation and frankly offensive communication…People are writing things we simply don’t recognize…”
“I’d like to give you little bit of advice around the media…My strong advice and request to everybody is just don’t engage with the media. If you’re approached, I would recommend not responding and, if necessary, simply refer them to our own media organization.”
Company removes Brian Thompson’s photo from website
UnitedHealthcate’s website removed Brian Thompson’s photo and bio from the site. Many other healthcare companies followed the same and pre-emptively removed photos and bios of their top leaders as Thimpson’s death terrified executives of health insurance companies.
The brazen murder and the unabashed celebration of it on social media caught everyone by surprise as it reflected the public rage against the healthcare industry. According to experts, the killer might not be a professional hitman as his firing did not look professional; but it was not an act of momentary rage. Investigators said it was a premeditated murder as the killer was well aware of Brian Thompson’s movement. The shell casings of the bullets that he fired had three words engraved on them: deny, defend and depose — a tactic health insurance companies deploy to reject insurance claims.
