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网络恶评太多,联合健康集团不得不聘请专业律师所来应对

Alena Botros
2025-02-13

CEO遇刺后,联合健康的声誉越来越差。

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联合健康集团(UnitedHealth)1月份公布财报后,引发了纽约市医生和患者们的广泛抗议。图片来源:Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for People's Action Institute

• 一名医生最近在社交媒体上声称,联合健康集团在她为患者执行手术期间致电,拒绝其患者留院过夜的请求,并在该集团聘请了擅长处理诽谤案件的律师事务所Clare Locke之后,威胁要对她在网上发布的有关该事件的帖子采取法律手段。

据彭博法律报道,在联合健康保险公司(UnitedHealthcare)首席执行官布莱恩·汤普森(Brian Thompson)遇害两个月后,联合健康医疗集团聘请了一家擅长处理诽谤案件的律师事务所来应对其声称不实和鲁莽的社交媒体帖子。

总部位于弗吉尼亚州的Clare Locke律师事务所在其网站上宣称,该事务所“致力于处理复杂的诽谤案件,并竭诚为遭遇高调声誉攻击的客户提供法律支持。”

1月7日,一位名叫伊丽莎白·波特(Elisabeth Potter)的整形外科医生在Instagram上发布了一段视频,声称在她正为一名罹患乳腺癌且需要手术治疗的女性患者进行手术的过程中,接到了来自联合健康保险公司的电话,要求她就患者的住院治疗情况做出说明。波特随后声称,该保险公司拒绝了患者留院过夜的请求,并威胁要对她的帖子采取法律手段。

她还附上了看似是Clare Locke律师事务所于1月13日发来的信函的截屏。信中写道:"我们特此致函,要求您更正关于联合健康保险公司的那些蓄意编造的、具有误导性以及诽谤性质的帖子。”律师声称她犯了错误,所以保险公司才会联系她,而且保险公司绝不可能要求或期望她在手术过程中离开手术台。Clare Locke要求她公开致歉并撤回相关指控。

波特在X平台上写道:“我作为一名照顾乳腺癌患者的女性医生,全心全意地投入这份工作,我将一如既往地为我的患者发声——因为她们理应获得更好的医疗服务。”

联合健康保险公司的一位发言人告诉《财富》杂志:“在任何与保险相关的情况下,我们都不会要求医生在手术中途离开,因为那样做会带来潜在的安全风险,而且我们绝不可能要求或期望医生为了接电话而中断对患者的治疗。关于一名整形外科医生声称联合健康保险公司拒绝报销乳腺癌患者的治疗费用的说法是不实的,联合健康保险公司之前已经批准了包括住院过夜部分在内的治疗费用报销。”

波特并不是唯一一个在社交媒体上发泄对联合健康保险公司不满的人。自从汤普森遇害后,人们在网上美化所谓的凶手,并批评保险公司拒绝理赔的行为。

彭博社最近报道称,联合健康集团已就亿万富翁比尔·阿克曼(Bill Ackman)所发布的一篇已被删除的帖子,与美国证券交易委员会取得了联系。阿克曼声称:"如果发现该公司的盈利能力因拒绝报销必要的医疗程序和患者护理而被显著夸大,我不会感到惊讶。”第二天,联合健康集团的股价下跌了4.3%。

Clare Locke律师事务所由汤姆·克莱尔(Tom Clare)和莉比·洛克(Libby Locke)夫妇创办。该律师事务所曾与其他律所共同代表Dominion Voting Systems起诉福克斯新闻。Dominion Voting Systems指控福克斯误指责其在2020年大选中操纵选票,将票数从唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)转向乔·拜登(Joe Biden),从而损害了其声誉,并据此向福克斯索赔高达16亿美元。最终,福克斯向Dominion Voting Systems支付了7.875亿美元和解金。

Clare Locke没有立即回应《财富》杂志的置评请求。(财富中文网)

译者:中慧言-王芳

• 一名医生最近在社交媒体上声称,联合健康集团在她为患者执行手术期间致电,拒绝其患者留院过夜的请求,并在该集团聘请了擅长处理诽谤案件的律师事务所Clare Locke之后,威胁要对她在网上发布的有关该事件的帖子采取法律手段。

据彭博法律报道,在联合健康保险公司(UnitedHealthcare)首席执行官布莱恩·汤普森(Brian Thompson)遇害两个月后,联合健康医疗集团聘请了一家擅长处理诽谤案件的律师事务所来应对其声称不实和鲁莽的社交媒体帖子。

总部位于弗吉尼亚州的Clare Locke律师事务所在其网站上宣称,该事务所“致力于处理复杂的诽谤案件,并竭诚为遭遇高调声誉攻击的客户提供法律支持。”

1月7日,一位名叫伊丽莎白·波特(Elisabeth Potter)的整形外科医生在Instagram上发布了一段视频,声称在她正为一名罹患乳腺癌且需要手术治疗的女性患者进行手术的过程中,接到了来自联合健康保险公司的电话,要求她就患者的住院治疗情况做出说明。波特随后声称,该保险公司拒绝了患者留院过夜的请求,并威胁要对她的帖子采取法律手段。

她还附上了看似是Clare Locke律师事务所于1月13日发来的信函的截屏。信中写道:"我们特此致函,要求您更正关于联合健康保险公司的那些蓄意编造的、具有误导性以及诽谤性质的帖子。”律师声称她犯了错误,所以保险公司才会联系她,而且保险公司绝不可能要求或期望她在手术过程中离开手术台。Clare Locke要求她公开致歉并撤回相关指控。

波特在X平台上写道:“我作为一名照顾乳腺癌患者的女性医生,全心全意地投入这份工作,我将一如既往地为我的患者发声——因为她们理应获得更好的医疗服务。”

联合健康保险公司的一位发言人告诉《财富》杂志:“在任何与保险相关的情况下,我们都不会要求医生在手术中途离开,因为那样做会带来潜在的安全风险,而且我们绝不可能要求或期望医生为了接电话而中断对患者的治疗。关于一名整形外科医生声称联合健康保险公司拒绝报销乳腺癌患者的治疗费用的说法是不实的,联合健康保险公司之前已经批准了包括住院过夜部分在内的治疗费用报销。”

波特并不是唯一一个在社交媒体上发泄对联合健康保险公司不满的人。自从汤普森遇害后,人们在网上美化所谓的凶手,并批评保险公司拒绝理赔的行为。

彭博社最近报道称,联合健康集团已就亿万富翁比尔·阿克曼(Bill Ackman)所发布的一篇已被删除的帖子,与美国证券交易委员会取得了联系。阿克曼声称:"如果发现该公司的盈利能力因拒绝报销必要的医疗程序和患者护理而被显著夸大,我不会感到惊讶。”第二天,联合健康集团的股价下跌了4.3%。

Clare Locke律师事务所由汤姆·克莱尔(Tom Clare)和莉比·洛克(Libby Locke)夫妇创办。该律师事务所曾与其他律所共同代表Dominion Voting Systems起诉福克斯新闻。Dominion Voting Systems指控福克斯误指责其在2020年大选中操纵选票,将票数从唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)转向乔·拜登(Joe Biden),从而损害了其声誉,并据此向福克斯索赔高达16亿美元。最终,福克斯向Dominion Voting Systems支付了7.875亿美元和解金。

Clare Locke没有立即回应《财富》杂志的置评请求。(财富中文网)

译者:中慧言-王芳

• A doctor recently claimed on social media that UnitedHealth called her mid-surgery, denied her patient an overnight stay, and threatened legal action for her online posts about the incident after the company retained the defamation law firm Clare Locke.

Two months after UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson was killed, UnitedHealth Group has hired a defamation law firm to take on social media posts that it claims are untrue and reckless, according to Bloomberg Law.

The Virginia-based firm Clare Locke claims on its website to be “dedicated to litigating complex defamation matters and representing clients facing high-profile reputational attacks.”

On Jan. 7, a plastic surgeon named Elisabeth Potter posted a video of herself on Instagram claiming that UnitedHealthcare called her mid-surgery and asked her to justify an in-patient stay for a woman who has breast cancer and needed a surgical procedure to treat it. Potter then claimed that the insurer denied the patient an overnight stay and threatened her with legal action for her posts.

She included what appeared to be screen grabs of the letter from Clare Locke, dated Jan. 13. “We are writing to demand you correct your knowingly false, misleading, and defamatory posts regarding UnitedHealthcare,” it reads. The lawyers claim she made an error and that is why the insurer reached out, and that it would never have asked or expected her to step out mid-surgery. Clare Locke asked that she post a public apology and retract her accusations.

“I am a woman taking care of women affected by breast cancer,” Potter wrote on X. “I do this work with all of my heart, and I will continue to speak up for my patients—because they deserve better.”

“There are no insurance-related circumstances that would ever require a physician to step out of surgery, as doing so would create potential safety risks and we would never ask or expect a physician to interrupt patient care to return a call,” a UnitedHealthcare spokesperson told Fortune. “These allegations by a plastic surgeon that UnitedHealthcare denied coverage for the care that a breast cancer patient received are false and UnitedHealthcare had previously approved coverage for the care, including an overnight stay.”

Potter isn’t the only one taking to social media to vent about United Healthcare. Since Thompson was murdered, people glorified his alleged killer and criticized the insurer online for denying claims.

Bloomberg recently reported UnitedHealth contacted the Securities and Exchange Commission about a since-deleted post by billionaire Bill Ackman. “I would not be surprised to find that the company’s profitability is massively overstated due to its denial of medically necessary procedures and patient care,” Ackman had claimed. UnitedHealth shares fell by 4.3% the next day.

Clare Locke was founded by Tom Clare and Libby Locke, who are husband and wife. It co-represented Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News. Dominion sued Fox for $1.6 billion, accusing the outlet of damaging its reputation after Fox wrongly blamed it for switching votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. The case resulted in Fox paying Dominion a $787.5 million settlement.

Clare Locke did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

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