Prosecutors deny violating Luigi Mangione's health privacy rights
Prosecutors in the state case against Luigi Mangione denied on Friday violating the medical privacy rights of the accused UnitedHealthcare CEO killer, as his attorneys alleged, arguing they sought nothing more than "entirely unremarkable" information from his health insurer.
The defense accused prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office of violating Mangione's rights protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act when they subpoenaed Aetna for information and "partially reviewed confidential, private, protected documents." The defense sought to suppress the information.
The district attorney's office said in a filing on Friday that there was nothing "secretive or nefarious" about a subpoena that sought "entirely unremarkable" information like Mangione's account number and time period of coverage.
In response, Aetna turned over more information than prosecutors requested, prosecutors said.
"Given these circumstances, defendant's real complaint is not about the subpoena itself, but about Aetna's response to the subpoena, which included documents that the People had not requested," Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann said. "The People issued a valid subpoena to Aetna for an appropriately limited set of relevant information. Through no fault of the People, Aetna seemingly provided materials outside the scope of the subpoena. The People then properly identified the error and notified the Court and the defense and deleted our copy of said materials."
The defense compounded Aetna's mistake by sending prosecutors an email attaching the entire Aetna file that prosecutors had already deleted, Seidemann said.
"The defense nonetheless seeks to punish the People for the administrative mistakes of others, claiming that the People have perpetrated a 'lie and a fraud' against defendant -- an inflammatory and dubious accusation without any basis," Seidemann said.
Prosecutors urged the judge to grant no relief to Mangione and instead set a date for trial.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state charges alleging he murdered United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside the Midtown hotel where the executive was about to attend an investor conference last year. Mangione has also pleaded not guilty to federal charges that could result in the death penalty.
