Again hassle and mind fog bothered suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing, his posts present

Luigi Mangione, 26, a suspect within the New York Metropolis killing of UnitedHealth govt Brian Thompson, poses for a reserving {photograph} at State Correctional Establishment (SCI) Huntingdon in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, U.S. December 9, 2024. File
| Photograph Credit score: PA Division of Corrections

After Luigi Mangione made the tough resolution to endure spinal surgical procedure final 12 months for persistent again ache, he grew to become a proponent of the process that modified his life for the higher.

He repeatedly posted on Reddit about his restoration and provided phrases of encouragement for folks with related situations, telling them to push again towards docs who urged they needed to reside with ache.

However notably absent from the posts are specific considerations about company greed within the medical health insurance trade. These seem to have surfaced solely later: in a handwritten notice discovered after Mr. Mangione was detained as a suspect within the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

That quick doc references “parasites” within the well being care system and laments the ability and income of well being insurers, in keeping with regulation enforcement officers. Throughout his first public phrases since his arrest in Pennsylvania, Mr. Mangione emerged from a patrol automobile shouting about an “insult to the intelligence of the American folks” whereas sheriff’s deputies pushed him right into a courthouse.

There’s no indication Mr. Mangione was ever insured by UnitedHealthcare, a senior New York Metropolis police official stated in an interview Thursday (December 12, 2024) with NBC New York.

The killing has nonetheless prompted widespread hypothesis about whether or not he had a foul private expertise with the well being care system. However after his 2023 surgical procedure, Mr. Mangione’s Reddit posts counsel he was overwhelmingly happy with the result and at last relieved of persistent ache. He inspired others to not be frightened by horror tales of surgical procedures gone dangerous. He additionally referenced a backpacking journey to Asia earlier this 12 months.

The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate seems to have stopped posting on social media roughly six months in the past, across the time he misplaced contact with family members.

Household and associates expressed shock at information of Mr. Mangione’s arrest, however little data has emerged about his current psychological and bodily well being.

Mr. Mangione’s Reddit posts reference a spinal situation referred to as spondylolisthesis, which happens when a fracture causes a vertebra to slide out of alignment. It can lead to extreme ache if the bone places stress on spinal nerves.

The situation, which may originate in childhood or from an damage, began negatively impacting Mr. Mangione’s life in recent times, in keeping with his social media posts.

After incomes his bachelor’s and grasp’s levels from the College of Pennsylvania, he labored on the Santa Monica-based car-buying web site TrueCar till 2023 and lived in Hawaii for a while beginning in January 2022. Throughout a six-month keep at Surfbreak, a “co-living” area in Honolulu, Mr. Mangione’s again ache worsened partly due to a browsing incident.

Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for the proprietor and founding father of Surfbreak, R.J. Martin, stated Mr. Mangione had expressed rising considerations in regards to the ache. Along with lacking out on leisure actions and train, he was apprehensive about the way it might have an effect on romantic relationships.

“That was undoubtedly a theme in his time there,” Mr. Ryan stated. “He wasn’t an enormous complainer. So, it wasn’t like he was bringing it up continuously. However the individuals who knew him knew this was a big a part of his life.”

In July 2023, Mr. Mangione wrote in a Reddit publish that he had determined to get surgical procedure.

“I acquired caught on this loop for a 12 months, all of the whereas placing my life on maintain in my 20’s and damaging my nerves whereas I waffled on the choice. I’ve surgical procedure scheduled in two weeks and I hold questioning why I used to be so afraid of it,” he wrote. Based on his posts, the operation was successful.

A picture posted to an X account linked to Mr. Mangione confirmed what gave the impression to be an X-ray of a metallic rod and a number of screws inserted into his decrease backbone.

“Surgical procedure was painful for the primary couple days, however I used to be shocked that by day 7 I used to be on actually zero ache meds,” Mr. Mangione posted on Reddit in August 2023. “Clearly can be awhile till I get into rigorous exercise, but it surely was method much less of an enormous deal than I had anticipated.”

Medical consultants say treating again ache is nearly at all times a problem. “Within the gross majority of remedies, surgical procedure is when the whole lot else has failed to supply aid,” stated Dr. Jason Pittman, co-director of the Backbone Heart at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Heart. He stated docs usually attempt conservative remedies like bodily remedy, injections or drugs earlier than surgical procedure.

Even folks with medical health insurance can face hundreds of {dollars} in payments from a surgical procedure relying on their deductible and different elements, although it’s unclear whether or not Mr. Mangione skilled any of these points.

Experiencing persistent again ache can even considerably influence psychological well being, stated Dr. Padma Gulur, a ache specialist with Duke Well being. “When you have underlying psychological well being points – nervousness, melancholy – your ache will be worse as a result of you could have far more struggling,” Ms. Gulur stated. “However the second facet is ache can push you into nervousness and melancholy.”

Little is thought about Mr. Mangione’s psychological state in current months, but it surely seems he was withdrawing from shut relationships. Since-deleted posts on X present a good friend repeatedly reaching out and getting no response. His household reported him lacking to San Francisco authorities in November, police stated.

Earlier, whereas in school, Mr. Mangione posted on Reddit about experiencing extreme mind fog and stressed sleep. In a July 2018 publish, he stated his grades had been struggling and he had thought of dropping out of faculty. However finally, “staying in school has not less than let me keep some semblance of normality,” he wrote.

His final Reddit publish is dated Could 17, however different statements round that point counsel he wasn’t experiencing sudden issues or renewed again ache. He seems to be advocating for the kind of surgical procedure he acquired months earlier.

He posted in early April in regards to the gear he introduced on a two-month backpacking journey via Asia that included some cross-country motorcycling, saying he had discovered “the right steadiness between minimalism and practicality.” In late April, he suggested one other Reddit person with a again drawback to “hold attempting totally different surgeons” and, if obligatory, convey an incapability to maintain working.

“We reside in a capitalist society,” he wrote. “I’ve discovered that the medical trade responds to those key phrases way more urgently than you describing insufferable ache and the way it’s impacting your high quality of life.”