Doctor dragged shrieking from United flight was a convicted felon whose medical license was revoked

Doctor dragged shrieking from United flight was a convicted felon whose medical license was revoked
Images: YouTube screen grabs

One of the protestations made by Dr. David Dao of Elizabethtown, Ky., while he was still in his seat on a now-infamous United Airlines flight bound for Louisville last Sunday was that he had patients awaiting treatment. But new details are surfacing that puts a lie at least to the claim that Dao had was on his way to administer treatment. According to the New York Post, Dao lost his medical licence in 2003 following his arrest on charges of unlawful prescribing and trafficking in a controlled substance, both felonies.

In fact, the new information paints an unflattering picture of Dr. Dao, who has become something of a media darling following the release of a video of him being ejected noisily from the plane.

He was accused of providing prescriptions for Vicodin and other narcotics to a former patient he later hired as his office manger, who was identified in news reports at the time as Brian Case.

The men repeatedly hooked up in motels, with Dao paying Case around $200 each time and also sharing in the drugs, according to a 130-page file compiled by the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure.

On the day he was busted, Dao was secretly videotaped with Case in a Red Carpet Inn in Jefferson County, Ky., “with his shirt off and his pants undone,” the records say.

[…]

The licensing records also reveal how Dao was “the subject of many complaints” while working at Hardin Memorial Hospital.

Regardless of Dao’s past, his removal from the aircraft by police who dragged his bleeding and unconscious frame down the aisle in plain view of horrified passengers has been a public relations nightmare for the carrier.

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Ben Bowles

Ben Bowles

Ben Bowles is a freelance writer and regular contributor to "Liberty Unyielding."

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