'Football gave me CTE': New York gunman blamed NFL for his brain injuries
The suspected shooter, identified as 27-year-old Shane Tamura, went on to ask that his brain be studied for CTE, and alleged that the league "knowingly concealed the dangers to our brains to maximise profits."
Armed with a semi-automatic rifle, the attacker shot a police officer outside the tower on Park Avenue, then opened fire in the lobby before trying to access the NFL's offices. Tamura had never actually played for the top professional league, Adams said, though he was reportedly a star player in high school in California. The bloodshed sparked a massive police response in the teeming centre of the city — not far from where a man with a grievance against UnitedHealthcare gunned down the medical insurance company's CEO last December. New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told a news conference that Tamura had a history of mental health issues. President Donald Trump on Tuesday called the mass shooting a "senseless act of violence" carried out by a "lunatic."
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SBS Australia
20 hours ago
- SBS Australia
Sarah has cancer but her US insurer refused her treatment. She says people are 'giving up'
Watch Dateline's latest episode, Killing for Healthcare, on Tuesday 5 August at 9.30pm on SBS and live on SBS On Demand. When Sarah found out that her breast cancer had spread to her spine, she thought that would be the worst of her bad news. Instead, she discovered the urgent new round of chemotherapy her oncologist had prescribed cost US$17,000 ($26,500) per month. It was an expense Sarah says her health insurer UnitedHealthcare refused to cover. The insurer had responded with the statement: "the requested [prescription] medication must meet specific criteria, and coverage cannot be authorised at this time". It was a huge blow for Sarah. "I was off the treatment for two months, two whole months. And when you have stage four cancer, two months without treatment is scary. "This is life or death for me." The couple have been married since 1991. Sarah describes her relationship with Jerry as 'love at first sight'. Credit: Javafilms Living in the United States, Sarah can only afford private health insurance through the support of her husband Jerry. He works 55-hour weeks in a warehouse and often through the night to bring home US$3,000 ($4,700) each month. He says one-third of his pay goes straight to UnitedHealthcare insurance, which was supposed to cover the cost of Sarah's treatment. Support and sympathy Luigi Mangione has been accused of shooting dead Brian Thompson, chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, on the streets of New York City in December 2024. Authorities allege three words were etched on the bullet casings left behind at the scene of Thompson's shooting: deny, defend, depose. It's a strategy former employee at UnitedHealthcare Nathalie Collins believes is commonly used to reject medical compensation claims. Collins says she processed up to 180 calls per day during her time with the insurer. "We had coaching to be able to deny it [medical claims] … we would have scripts on screen explaining what to say to get them [customers] off the call, or maybe satisfy them." Nathalie Collins worked in the medical claims department at UnitedHealthcare for nine months. She alleges almost three months of her time at the company was spent in training. Credit: Javafilms But it was the death of her former boss that provided the catalyst for Collins to speak out online. "I definitely don't condone anyone losing their life … But also, the people that are working [dealing] with these insurance companies and healthcare systems, they are dying. "In some situations, losing limbs, losing body parts because they didn't get treatment in time … I should not be able to hit a button and make such a determination on someone's life." Led by Thompson, the insurance division at UnitedHealthcare reported US$281 billion ($437 billion) in revenue in 2023 and provided medical insurance to more than 49 million people. The healthcare executive earned US$10.2 million ($15.8 million) in 2023, including base pay, cash and stock grants, according to The New York Times. Mangione recently pleaded not guilty to federal murder and stalking charges, which accuse the 27-year-old of spending months planning the attack. He now awaits further trial and a possible death sentence. US authorities describe Brian Thompson's death as a 'premeditated, cold-blooded assassination'. But some believe, the jury is still out. Credit: Javafilms It's a case that has sparked public protests in support of Mangione. One in four US adults feel "moderate" or "a lot" of sympathy for Mangione, according to a survey by CloudResearch. In separate polling by The Generation Lab, 41 per cent of young people aged between 18 to 29 found the killing 'acceptable". While Mangione's exact motive remains unclear, he has reportedly described the US healthcare system as "parasitic" and exploitative. He also alleges doctors postponed his spinal fusion surgery for years before he underwent the procedure in 2023. 'Unravelling a scam' In 2024, a US Senate committee investigated plans under the Medicare Advantage scheme and found UnitedHealthcare was one of three health insurance companies that intentionally denied claims. Personal finance website Value Penguin also reported the company denied 32 per cent of insurance claims that year — a figure significantly higher than most industry averages. UnitedHealthcare has faced recent allegations by the health outlet Stat regarding the potential use of algorithms to deny care. In December 2024, UnitedHealth Group, which owns UnitedHealthcare, released a statement regarding its history of claim denial. "Highly inaccurate and grossly misleading information has been circulated about our company's treatment of insurance claims," the statement read. "UnitedHealthcare approves and pays about 90 per cent of medical claims upon submission." Dr Elizabeth Potter (pictured, centre) says she is one of the last independent specialists in the Texas and services almost 40 per cent of people with breast cancer in the state. Credit: Javafilms Breast reconstruction specialist Dr Elizabeth Potter believes insurance companies are increasingly fighting "obscene" life-threatening conditions with "technicalities and turns of phrase". The Texas-based expert employs two full-time staff to build medical case files and chase insurance approvals for her patients. "I think we're all figuring out in the United States that navigating insurance feels like we're unravelling a scam," she said. "We've been paying into a system that isn't there when we need it." Deny, delay, defend The US is the only developed country without access to universal healthcare, according to the independent researcher The Commonwealth Fund. Instead, the system is underpinned by public and private health insurance, which may cover some or all of someone's medical expenses. In Australia by contrast, Medicare and the public hospital system provides free or subsidised access to most healthcare services. The US Census Bureau reported that 92 per cent of people in the US had insurance for some or all of 2023. Yet surveys from that year have also found that up to 42 per cent of US adults with private insurance skipped medical care due to cost. For decades, the Mangione name was associated with affluence. The family made a fortune in real estate in Baltimore's Little Italy but have since retreated from public life. Credit: Javafilms New York lawyer Steven Cohen has specialised in class action lawsuits against insurance companies for the past 15 years. He alleges health insurers often employ a similar tactic to the words found on Mangione's fatal bullet: deny, delay, defend. "Maybe the condition will go away. Maybe some cheaper tests emerge … Too often, people die as a result of a delay of diagnosis and treatment," he said. While Cohen calls himself a "capitalist" he also believes the US healthcare system isn't fit for purpose. "Insurance companies are private companies that are responsible for their shareholders, not to their members who get the insurance but to their shareholders to maximise profits." Medical debt is a leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the US. About 6 per cent of adults owe over US$1,000 ($1,600) and 1 per cent of the population have more than US$10,000 ($16,000) in debt due to health costs. 'Free Luigi' protests have been taking place across the US for months. It's expected a crowd of supporters will gather in New York for Mangione's 16 September court appearance. Credit: Javafilms As Mangione prepares for his upcoming court appearance in September, his face continues to be plastered on mugs, T-shirts and flags. Sarah continues to fight her own battle. Thankfully, after three months without treatment, she has resumed chemotherapy. She says a private foundation was moved by her story and offered to cover her medical costs. "I've heard of people losing everything just to pay for their cancer treatment," she said. "But I've also heard of people just giving up … not treating it and stopping treatment."
The Age
2 days ago
- The Age
Ghislaine Maxwell
The family of Virginia Giuffre – the American-Australian woman who was among Jeffrey Epstein's most well-known sex-trafficking accusers – said the transfer reflected 'the justice system failing victims right before our eyes'.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Luxury prison': Epstein accomplice Maxwell quietly moved to low-security camp
The assignment to the Bryan camp was a big lifestyle upgrade for Maxwell, he said. The family of Virginia Giuffre – the American-Australian woman who was among Epstein's most well-known sex-trafficking accusers – said in a statement that Maxwell's transfer reflected 'the justice system failing victims right before our eyes'. Giuffre died by suicide on April 25 this year at her farm in Neergabby, north of Perth, aged 41. 'It is with horror and outrage that we object to the preferential treatment convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has received,' her family said in a statement – reported by The Washington Post – that was also signed by other women who said they were victims of Epstein and Maxwell. 'Ghislaine Maxwell is a sexual predator who physically assaulted minor children on multiple occasions, and she should never be shown any leniency. Yet, without any notification to the Maxwell victims, the government overnight has moved Maxwell to a minimum-security luxury prison in Texas.' Loading The prison camp is about 150 kilometres north-west of Houston on about 15 hectares of land. It held about 650 women, AP reported in 2023. According to a 2016 FPC Bryan inmate handbook, those eligible to work could earn up to $US1.15 ($1.78) an hour in their job assignments, which include food service roles and factory employment operated by Federal Prison Industries. There, Maxwell will be surrounded by women serving shorter sentences and considered less likely to be violent or have gang affiliations. Camp inmates are assigned to dormitory-style housing and have considerable freedom to move around within the facility, according to Paperny, who said he had advised Shah. Giuffre, who had accused Britain's Prince Andrew and other influential men of sexually exploiting her as a teenager trafficked by Epstein, has been a central figure in conspiracy theories tied to the case. Andrew has always denied those claims; the two reached an out-of-court settlement in 2022, and he was stripped of royal duties. Loading Earlier this week, her family had expressed shock at hearing US President Donald Trump say that Epstein 'stole' Giuffre and other young women from the spa at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida – and urged that Maxwell remain in prison. 'It was shocking to hear President Trump invoke our sister and say that he was aware that Virginia had been 'stolen' from Mar-a-Lago,' the family's earlier statement said. 'We and the public are asking for answers; survivors deserve this.' Prosecutors have said Epstein's sex crimes could not have been done without Maxwell, but her lawyers have maintained that she was wrongly prosecuted and denied a fair trial, and have floated the idea of a presidential pardon. They have also asked the US Supreme Court to take up her case. Trump said on Friday night Washington time (Saturday AEST) that no one had asked him about clemency for Maxwell. 'I'm allowed to do it but nobody's asked me to do it,' he told Newsmax in an interview. 'I know nothing about it. I don't know anything about the case, but I know I have the right to do it. I have the right to give pardons, I've given pardons to people before, but nobody's even asked me to do it.' Maxwell's case has been the subject of heightened public focus since an outcry over the Justice Department's statement last month saying that it would not be releasing any additional documents from the Epstein sex-trafficking investigation. Loading The decision infuriated online sleuths, conspiracy theorists and elements of Trump's base who had hoped to see proof of a government cover-up. Since then, administration officials have tried to cast themselves as promoting transparency in the case, including by requesting from courts the unsealing of grand jury transcripts. Maxwell was interviewed at a Florida courthouse over two days last week by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. The House Oversight Committee had also said that it wanted to speak with her. Maxwell's lawyers have said they would be open to an interview, but only if the panel were to ensure immunity from prosecution. In a letter on Friday to Maxwell's lawyers, Representative James Comer, the committee chair, wrote that the committee was willing to delay the deposition until after the resolution of Maxwell's appeal to the Supreme Court. That appeal is expected to be resolved in late September. Loading Comer wrote that while Maxwell's testimony was 'vital' to the Republican-led investigation into Epstein, the committee would not provide immunity or any questions in advance. AP, Reuters, Bloomberg
