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As news breaks of the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, in midtown Manhattan while on his way to the insurer’s annual conference for analysts and investors, much of the medical community is left in shock. In what was apparently a targeted attack, the gunman appeared to have waited for him specifically, according to news reports. Although many motives are theorized, we do not know any specifics as this is being written.
Doctors, especially those in private practice, dislike healthcare organizations, including their executives. Many feel the US healthcare system is broken, and managed care organizations play a huge role in its dysfunction. That being said, violence is never the answer.
For whatever reason Thompson was murdered, whether for personal reasons or those possibly related to his role at UnitedHealthcare, it did not solve anything. This was a man who worked hard to reach his position of leading one of the largest insurance companies in the US, and he was successful for several years. His peers respected him, and we should all be saddened by this tragic loss of life.
This is a good reminder that nothing is solved by not following the proper channels. If we want change, we need to advocate for it. Many of us bemoan the deterioration of our healthcare system and the damage it has done to our profession, but few speak up where it matters. Most of us hate serving on hospital committees. Unless we do, we cannot change anything in our workplace. The same can be said for lobbying for change in the political field. We all have different political ideologies, but we can unite to fight for meaningful change on a national and state level. If we don’t, someone else will, and we will likely not be happy with the results.
Similarly, we need to advocate for our patients’ access to care. It is all too easy to quit the prior authorization game and order or prescribe something else. True, we get nowhere on an individual basis. The answer is, again, we need to come together and fight for real change and the care and medications our patients need.
Why do we need to care about the murder of a managed care CEO? Because it is an attack on the system in which we work. If someone is willing to try to solve their problem using violent means, we are not safe. While we don’t know the motive, we can say that violence often begets more violence. As doctors, we see the carnage that gunshot injuries cause and know this should never happen to another human being. We should be the leaders of health and well-being.
Our healthcare system is dysfunctional, and many of us are becoming burnt out; however, this didn’t happen due to one person. We should mourn the loss of Brian Thompson because he was a fellow human being who lost his life in a way that should never have happened. We should give him the respect he deserves as a success in his field, even if we disagree with his actions. Until we know more about what truly happened, we should be slow to theorize about motives to avoid spreading false information. May he rest in peace.
