More Details Are Emerging About The Doctor Who Was Dragged Off A United Flight

In yet another tragic instance of a person inadvertently finding themselves in the media spotlight only to have their skeletons thrust out of the closet as the world watches, details are emerging about the doctor who was violently removed from a United Airlines flight, thanks to his hometown paper. And unfortunately it seems as though Dr. David Dao, as his name has now been revealed to be, has his share. No word yet on what good the 69 year-old grandfather may have done in the world over the course of his life.

According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, Dao — who attended medical school in Vietnam in the 1970s before moving to the states — was arrested in an undercover sting while practicing as a pulmonologist in Elizabethtown in 2003 and convicted for drug-related offenses relating to fraudulent prescriptions for controlled substances. Dao was also alleged to have been carrying on a sexual relationship with a patient who worked for his practice. Dao was forced to surrender his medical license in 2005, and was only granted permission by the The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure in 2015 to resume practicing internal medicine in limited capacity, in an outpatient facility one day a week.

In other news, Dao apparently also moonlights as a professional poker player, and has won nearly $250,000 over the course of his career. In 2009 he won big when he finished second at the Harrah’s Tunica Circuit Championship, walking away with $117,744 for his efforts.

Regardless of what Dao has been accused of or done in his life, it’s important to remember that it has no bearing on what took place in Chicago on Sunday night. Having legal issues in one’s past doesn’t justify an airline dragging a paying customer off of a plane, in the eyes of many.

(Via Courier-Journal)

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