UnitedHealthcare’s Hissy Fit: How One Doctor’s Truth Triggered a Corporate Meltdown

This Is My Opinion, and It’s 100% Correct

If you haven’t heard the latest from the flaming dumpster fire known as UnitedHealthcare, strap in. Because apparently, an Austin-based surgeon named Dr. Elisabeth Potter dared to do her job, posted about it on social media, and triggered the greatest meltdown since an ice cream truck exploded in Death Valley. Then we have the crowning jewel, Thomas Clare, an allegedly sentient being with a law license, bullying everyone into shutting up about it. Here’s the blow-by-blow in language even the dumbest donkey on the planet can understand.

UnitedHealthcare: Because Who Needs Mercy?

Let’s get one thing straight: we’re dealing with a “health insurance” company that claims it’s working for the greater good. That’s like saying I’m dieting as I devour a dozen jelly donuts with a side of bacon and an IV drip of nacho cheese.

• The Setup: Dr. Potter was in the middle of performing reconstructive surgery for a breast cancer patient. Y’know, saving someone’s life or at least massively improving it.
• The Interruption: According to Potter, her office (or the operating room, or an angel from heaven—who knows) got a call from UnitedHealthcare. They demanded an immediate conversation about the patient’s overnight stay coverage. Because how dare a patient need to recover after a major surgical procedure?

Essentially, Dr. Potter says she had to step out of surgery, or at least felt forced to, so she could argue with some insurance grunt who apparently lacked any actual medical info. The doc turned around and told the world this is insane. It’s 2025, and we’ve got corporate suits sticking their ignorant snouts into operating rooms like it’s some kind of corporate carnival game.

Thomas Clare: The Human (Allegedly) Gaslight

Enter Thomas Clare—some fancy-pants lawyer with a letter that reads like an unhinged rant from a second-rate Bond villain. The gist of the letter is “Shut up, Dr. Potter. This is all your fault. Apologize right now, remove your video, and tell the entire internet you lied.” Because obviously, the best way to handle an embarrassing PR fiasco is to triple down with petty threats. Great plan, Tom. Really well thought out.

• Clare’s Masterful Accusation: He claims Dr. Potter messed up the paperwork (like your grandma messing up a TikTok video). Supposedly, if she hadn’t typed “overnight inpatient” instead of “overnight observation,” there would’ve been no reason to call. So basically, the doc’s incompetent, and she’s lying, and she forced them to ring her mid-surgery.
• Reality Check: People in healthcare know that once an insurer decides to call, you either jump on it or kiss your coverage goodbye. The slightest whiff of “unreachable” can lead to a coverage denial. Doctors often hustle to respond—even if that means stepping out of an OR. But sure, let’s pretend the phone call was like some breezy party line from the 90s and she was free to ignore it. Which is about as believable as a rat winning the Kentucky Derby on roller skates.

How Not to Win Over the Public

In case you missed it, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare was murdered a couple of months ago (allegedly by a man who wrote a manifesto calling insurers “parasites,” which is basically the nicest word you could use). In the aftermath, you’d think UnitedHealthcare might try to avoid stirring up more controversy. Nope!

Instead, they hired a defamation law firm to shut down a random surgeon on social media. Because that’s exactly how you make people love you. Not only did they highlight Dr. Potter’s story for all the world to see, but they also triggered the Streisand Effect so hard that more people now know about this fiasco than ever before. It’s PR genius, folks, the kind that makes me wonder if the entire firm shares one communal brain cell.

The Bizarre Blame Game

Clare’s letter is a masterclass in deflection. It basically says:

1. “You’re lying.” Because every surgeon loves to invent insane stories about being forced to call an insurance company mid-operation.
2. “You caused a social media firestorm.” Because obviously it’s Dr. Potter’s fault that random commenters decided to say mean things.
3. “You must apologize publicly.” Not only that—he demands Dr. Potter contact news outlets and get them to remove their stories. Fun fact: That’s not how journalism works, Tom. Next time maybe try politely requesting the moon to fall out of the sky. It has roughly the same chance of success.

Why This Matters (Other Than Being Hilarious)

• Patient Care: This entire dumpster inferno started because a doctor wanted to ensure her patient had a safe post-op recovery. That’s apparently too big an ask when dealing with an industry built on the concept of “deny, deny, deny.”
• Freedom to Speak: Whether Dr. Potter typed one code or another is a side note. The real issue is an insurance behemoth lashing out at a doctor for criticizing their practices. That sets a dangerous precedent: If you talk smack about them, they’ll threaten you with lawsuits until you shut up.
• Moral of the Story: If your defense is, “We’d never ask you to step out of surgery! You did that on your own because we called the OR,” you might want to rethink your entire life’s choices. Because, guess what? If you’re calling an OR in the middle of a surgery—approved or not—someone’s eventually going to have to pick up.

My Helpful Advice to Everyone Involved

1. Dr. Potter: Don’t cave. I hope you keep highlighting how messed up it is to prioritize forms and codes over a patient’s well-being. Also, you’ve got a cosurgeon on hand who can keep an eye on your patient while you do these phone calls, so you’re obviously a professional who actually thinks ahead.
2. Thomas Clare: Maybe tone down the tyrannical legal monologues. If you want to come off as rational, threatening to hold Dr. Potter personally accountable for random people’s “In Luigi We Trust” comments isn’t the way. You sound like a howling sea lion who stubbed his toe on a coral reef.
3. UnitedHealthcare: If you didn’t want more negative attention after the death of your CEO, maybe don’t wave your arms around shrieking about lawyers and defamation. You’re fueling exactly the kind of coverage you hate. Congratulations, you played yourself.

In Conclusion, This Situation Is a Clown Show

UnitedHealthcare is basically screaming, “Look at me, I’m incompetent and proud of it,” while Thomas Clare waves his legal wand, hoping that a strongly worded letter will vanish the truth. Meanwhile, Dr. Potter stands her ground, refusing to bow to intimidation. The end result? Everyone sees UnitedHealthcare for what it is: a bloated fortress of bureaucracy that can’t handle the slightest criticism without freaking out.

The entire fiasco is so ridiculous that it’s almost too perfect. A big, bad insurance company tries to muzzle a surgeon who just wanted to help her cancer patient. If that doesn’t make you roll your eyes so far back in your skull you can see your own brain stem, I don’t know what will.

So hats off to you, UnitedHealthcare and Thomas Clare, for achieving the pinnacle of self-immolation PR. You’ve managed to look incompetent, petty, and dishonest all at once. And that’s not an easy triple threat to achieve. Maybe next time, consult a mirror before you scribble out your next threat letter. Just a thought.