(CNN) — UnitedHealthcare sued The Guardian and its parent on Wednesday for defamation, claiming the US version of the British daily newspaper ran information it knew to be incorrect in order to “capitalize” on the assassination of the medical insurer’s CEO.
The article in question was produced and published by The Guardian’s US investigations team as part of a series titled “Too Big to Care” and was available worldwide at publication. In the article, George Joseph, an investigative reporter for The Guardian’s US publication, wrote that UnitedHealth Group, UnitedHealthcare’s parent, had engaged in cost-cutting tactics by paying off nurses to cut down on hospital transfers.
Citing internal emails, documents and interviews with more than 20 current and former staffers, the report claimed that the payments were made “as part of a UnitedHealth program.” Nursing home residents in need of “immediate hospital care under the program failed to receive it” because of “interventions from UnitedHealth staffers,” per the report.
The lawsuit from UnitedHealth Group, United Healthcare Services and Optum, the group’s health services segment, filed in Delaware’s Superior Court, accused The Guardian of publishing “knowingly false claims” in the story, alleging it used “deceptively doctored documents” and “patently untruthful anecdotes” to produce the article.
“The Guardian knew these accusations were false, but published them anyway, brazenly trying to capitalize on the tragic and shocking...
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