Law&Crime Sidebar - Luigi Mangione's Family Business Tied to Troubling Nursing Home Reports

Episode Date: December 17, 2024

Growing outcry against the United States healthcare industry is turning Luigi Mangione, the man who allegedly killed the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, into a folk hero to some. As we learn more about Mangione and his family, we’re uncovering alleged bad behavior at nursing homes they own. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber takes a closer look at some of the complaints.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://www.forthepeople.com/LCSidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger and Christina FalconeScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Luigi Mangione, accused of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, apparently comes from a family with an allegedly dark history in the nursing home business. His family's nursing home network, Lorean Health Services, has faced multiple violations, including abuse violations, and health code violations across multiple facilities, and we have reports to prove it.

As Mangione's criminal case unfolds, the scrutiny on his family's business only grows, and we're going to break it all down as we try to understand what this alleged shooter's motives may have been. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. As the murder case against Luigi Mangione continues to unfold, troubling new details about his family's business empire are now coming to light.

The 26-year-old is accused of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in cold blood in a brazen attack outside of a Manhattan hotel in early December. But while Mangione's alleged anti-capitalist motives and personal grievances against the health care industry or what police believe may have driven him to murder, again assuming he's the guy who did this, Now we are learning that his family's wealth comes from a network of nursing homes and nursing homes that have faced years of scrutiny, fines, and violations. So Mangione, a once promising Ivy League graduate, again with apparent strong anti-corporate views, comes from a wealthy, influential family in Baltimore. According to reporting from the Baltimore banner, his grandfather, Nick Mangione, Sr., an Italian-American real estate mogul, built this empire that included not just country clubs and radio station, but a network of nursing

homes under the name Lorian Health Services. Now, despite the luxurious amenities that were promised by Laurean's facilities, from movie theaters and beauty spas to restaurant-style dining, all listed on the facility's website, the nursing home network has long been plagued by concerns, concerns over its care quality, violations, even reports of abuse. Now, Laurian Health Services operates nine facilities across Maryland. This is according to its website. But a couple of them have been flagged for troubling health violations, as I've been talking about. So the most concerning allegations have come from the Lorian Nursing and Rehab Center in Bell Air,

which has accumulated 24 health citations over the past six years. This is according to reporting from the Daily Mail. And these violations span various areas, from controlling infections to poor quality of life for residents, but it's really the allegations of abuse that have raised the most alarms here. So, law and crime actually obtained a copy of an inspection report conducted in April this year by the Department of Health and Human Services. And according to this report, the Bell Air facility was cited for failing to protect its residents from mental and physical abuse. So there's one incident from August of 2023, and it involves a geriatric nursing assistant, a GNA, who allegedly flung a call bell at a resident who had just pressed it for help. So this complaint, this report says resident number 21 reported that she he, because they haven't identified the gender of this person, use the call bell for assistance to use the bathroom. Shee he reported that after a long time, GNA number 17 came in and threw the call bell at resident two.

GNA number 17 then yelled at resident number 21 not to press the button again. And according to the investigation and report, Resident 21 reported that they were so scared that they didn't use the call button for the remainder of this shift. Now, later that same day, this same assistant was accused of being too rough when assisting another resident. According to the statement, the report, GNA number 17 during activities of daily living care for resident number 22 turned him, her roughly enough that resident number 22 verbalized discomfort. A physical assessment was completed based on the resident's outward expressions

of discomfort and pain. Resident number 22's right arm and shoulder were assessed and noted painful, and the resident was treated with Tylenol for pain. Now, although this staff member was ultimately fired, according to this report, this inspection found further significant lapses in Laurian's oversight. This particular GNA had apparently failed to complete mandatory training. And the worst part of it, the head nursing staff wasn't even aware of this. According to the statement, review of the employee file of staff GNA number 17 revealed that she had not completed her annual abuse training since 2020. The director of nursing and administrator were interviewed regarding the surveyor's findings of the lack of abuse training. They were not aware that the

training was not up to date at that time. By the way, we want to keep on following this Mangione story as it develops. And with that in mind, I have to thank our sponsor Morgan and Morgan because it's with their support that helps make episodes like this possible. And look, here's the deal. If you're injured, Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm, they may be who you want in your corner. Morgan and Morgan has a dedicated team of over 1,000 attorneys, case specialists, paralegals, investigators, incredible track record. I'm talking recent verdicts of 12 million dollars in Florida and $26 million in Philadelphia. These are higher than the highest insurance offers in these cases. There's no upfront fee. The whole process can be done right from your

smartphone. So if you're injured, you can easily start a claim at for the people.com slash LC sidebar. A review of the facility as a whole revealed that this facility failed to ensure proper training across the board. According to the complaint, it was determined that the facility failed to ensure that geriatric nursing assistants had the required abuse training and competencies to provide safe and proper care to residents in the facility. But this alleged neglect goes beyond just what this particular G&A was cited for. In the review, it was determined that this facility failed to answer resident call bells in a timely manner and even leaving residents waiting as long as an hour for assistance. So the nursing head acknowledged,

the report that a reasonable wait time after pressing the call bell was about 15 minutes, but numerous findings suggested that residents, they waited much longer. According to the report, a review of call bail response audits for September 17, 2023 to September 30th, 2023 revealed that residents were waiting 28 to 57 minutes for a call light response. Again, we're talking about some of the most vulnerable people in our population. So these accounts, these allegations, this report are highly, highly disturbing. And I will tell you, it also says that one resident was left waiting for over an hour for help. A review of the call light response times for resident number 42 the week prior to the complaint revealed, the resident had waited one hour and 20 minutes

for a response on March 2nd, 2024. And earlier that day had waited 20 minutes. In addition, the resident had waited 43 minutes on March 3rd, 2025, and 51 minutes on March 5th, 2024. So, by the way, it gets even worse from here because the report also indicated that this facility failed to provide incontinence care for dependent residents, and in one residence case, their own family was left cleaning them up. According to this report, according to the family, they came to visit resident number 39 every evening. and found his or her brief soiled, which family cleaned up. Resident number 39 complained to family that he, she, uses the call bell to ask for help to be changed,

but no one ever answers the call bell. And a further review of this residence record indicated that the staff had failed to change them, and in some instances even bathe them. And by the way, this was in 19 separate instances. According to the report, that resident was not changed for bowel movements on eight separate days. Resident 39 also didn't receive incontinence care on three separate nights, and there was no shower or bed bath given on eight times. Now remember, this is all just pertaining to one facility, the Bel Air facility,

because we haven't even gotten into complaints in a whole other facility. Because I will tell you, adding to the mounting concerns, The Columbia location of Laurian Health Services was fined $24,680 in July after another inspection uncovered numerous health and safety concerns. This is according to reporting from the New York Post. The report on the Columbia facility, which we've also obtained, is a 46-page report revealing numerous issues, beginning with mismanagement of patient care. It reads, it was determined that the facility failed to ensure medications were securely stored, all drugs and biologians. is used in the facility are labeled in accordance with professional standards, failed to monitor and document daily on the temperature log,

the refrigerator temperature where residents' medications are stored to preserve their integrity. Or how about this? It was determined the facility failed to notify the resident or resident representative in writing of a transfer discharge of a resident along with the reason for the transfer. So in other words, people were just being transferred and their representatives, family might not have known about it. And the report even revealed a series of distressing incidents where patients were left unattended in very vulnerable situations, including allegedly, improperly administering oxygen without labeling the dates or times of the administration on the oxygen

tubes. Failing to ensure a resident's call device was within reach, failing to make sure residents weren't given unnecessary medications, and failing to assist residents who needed help getting dressed. You know, one such resident, they say in this report, it was left for 40 minutes without help. According to the report, surveyors observed that the residents were not properly dressed, no gown or clothes worn, a gown placed on top of his or her chest. Resident number 61 reported, I messed up my clothes, waiting for staff to bathe me. No one helped me for 40 minutes. The resident also mentioned that he, she, preferred to have clothes on. And the report basically says that the staff didn't treat these residents.

with dignity and respect. That's the main theme here. Now, despite all of these issues, Lorean maintains that these are just rarities, and they only make up a small fraction of the total violations across the state. In a statement to the New York Post, CEO Lou Grimmel Senior defended the care provided by Lorean facilities, saying, for 47 years, Lurian has excelled at providing unparalleled assisted living and nursing home care for our residents. We have been guided by our founder's pride of ownership and their principal value that we are family taking care of families, friends, and neighbors. And we embrace this mantra every day along with our care forward approach, which grows from our team embracing innovation, new techniques, and personal care that set us apart from the pack.

But by the way, regarding violations, we're not even done yet. Because in addition to concerns over patient health care, there's more. Lurian Health Services recently agreed to pay $55,192 to the federal government after being accused of retaining overpayment under the civil monetary penalties law. So this is according to reporting from the New York Post. The Office of Inspector General for HHS claimed that Lurian allowed an unlicensed individual to work as part of its nursing staff, and this person was reportedly using stolen credentials. Now, once Lurian apparently discovered the staff member status, they were accused. accused of failing to timely report this and return to Medicare and Medicaid the payments received

for the services performed by the employee. Now, of course, while we're highlighting some troubling issues, it is important to mention that Lorien was named in the top 19% of nursing homes in the U.S. This is according to the U.S. News and World reports 2025 rankings, and the company has received positive reviews on its site for facilities. Now, going back to Mangione for a second. So the Mangione family's ties to Lorian Health Services, which we briefly mentioned before, they go back decades. Nick Mangione, Sr. passed away in 2008. He was this influential real estate mogul in Baltimore. He owned the Turf Valley Resort, the Hayfields Country Club, the radio station WCBMAMAM, in addition to the nursing homes that became Lorean Health. And this network of facilities was later passed down to Nick's 10 children, including Luigi's father, Louis Mangione.

And this has been managed by his heirs ever since. And apparently, Luigi Mangione himself even spent time volunteering at his family's facilities during his teen years, which, by the way, when you think about it, maybe possibly gave him an inside look or view of the health care business, right? Something to think about. Now, Luigi Mangione is linked to the tragic killing of United Healthcare CEO suspect Brian Thompson. And this is what authority say was a killing that may be due to deep frustrations with American health care system. According to law enforcement, Mangione's motivations were outlined

in a manifesto and notebook that he allegedly left behind. Writings describing the greed of private insurance companies, including United Health Care, which the writer accused of putting profits before patient care. We're talking about reported statements such as, I do apologize for any strife of traumas, but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming. Or that United Health Care has grown and grown, but has our life expectancy. No, the reality is these have simply gotten too powerful and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit. According to CNN and ABC, there was also a passage, what do you do? You whack the CEO at the annual parasitic bean counter convention. And that's

interesting because Mangione also allegedly engraved phrases such as deny, delay, depose on the bullet casings that he used in this attack or allegedly used in this attack. This is according to CNN, which by the way, is eerily similar to the title of a 2010 book called Delay Deny Defend, which accused insurance companies of rampant corruption. Now, that bean counter comment was interesting because Thompson was on his way to an annual Investors Conference at the Hilton Hotel, located on 6th Avenue in Manhattan, when he was shot and killed back on December 4th. So this murder led to a manhunt. It ended with Mangione being arrested days later at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after he was identified based on the surveillance photos from New York that were published by

authorities. And remember, Mangione's family, they hadn't been in contact with him reportedly for months. His mother had filed a missing person's report. And it's interesting that this all came after a back injury in Hawaii. So you're trying to understand what his motivations might have been or what his frustration or anger might have been with the health care industry. I will tell you, it's been reported. He was not a client of United Healthcare. So again, maybe this was just a statement about health insurance in general, the industry in general. And it does make you wonder, if he did do this, where was he going next? Was Thompson just one of many targets?

It's something fair to think about. And in his statement, I will tell you, going back to his family, in a statement released after his arrest, the family expressed their shock, their devastation, offering condolences to the family of Brian Thompson. And the Mangione family has also asked for prayers for all involved as they grapple. with the aftermath of this horrific crime. And the connections between Mangione's alleged motivations, his family's nursing home empire, the overall health care industry, they continue to raise questions.

And as this case progresses, the attention on the Mangioni family business practices, including these nursing home violations, it is likely to intensify and may shed light on an empire built on both wealth and controversy. That's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar, everybody, thank you so much for joining us. As always, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.

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