Prosecutors in Manhattan on Friday pushed back against claims they improperly accessed private medical records in the high-profile case against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione's legal team argues that prosecutors crossed a line, violating federal health privacy laws by subpoenaing Aetna, Mangione's insurer, and reviewing confidential files they shouldn't have seen.
The defense wants any such information kept out of court, but prosecutors insisted in a Friday filing they only asked for routine details—"entirely unremarkable" information like his account number and insurance coverage dates, per the DA's office. Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann said the issue was not with the subpoena itself, but with Aetna, which allegedly handed over more documents than prosecutors had requested. Once they noticed the over-disclosure, Seidemann says, his office alerted both the court and the defense, then deleted the extra files, reports ABC News.
In a twist, prosecutors claim the defense actually made matters worse by attaching the entire Aetna file to an email sent back to the state after the state had already erased it. Seidemann calls the defense's accusation "that the People have perpetrated a 'lie and a fraud' against defendant an inflammatory and dubious accusation without any basis." CBS News last month reported that Mangione's attorneys requested a hearing on the matter, and that, based on the findings that emerged, the judge consider "a range of appropriate sanctions, to include dismissal of the charges." Prosecutors are urging the court to move forward, arguing the administrative fumble shouldn't delay Mangione's murder trial.
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