Dr. David Dao, 69, was thrown into the public spotlight after a viral video showed him being knocked unconscious and forcibly removed from a United Airlines flight earlier this week.
Outrage over the video has become a public relations nightmare for United Airlines resulting in massive losses on the stock market. According to Fortune Finance “shares of United fell as much as 6.3% in pre-market trading, dropping $1.4 billion from the now $21 billion company by market cap. By early trading Tuesday, shares were down 4%.”
CEO Oscar Munoz made things worse with a public statement that shifted the blame onto Dr. Dao and the Airport Police officers. A follow up investigation has revealed a dark past Dao would have preferred to keep secret.
According to documents filed with the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure, Dao lost his medical license after being arrested and charged with trading drugs for sex. Following an undercover investigation, the Board discovered that Dao had developed a sexual interest in male patient Brian Case. Dao, a pediatrician, gave Case a physical examination including contact with Case’s genetalia before offering him a job as the office manager.
Case later quit his job due to “inappropriate” office behavior, but made arrangements with Dao to receive prescription drugs in exchange for sexual favors.
In 2004 Dao was convicted of multiple felonies including acquiring drugs by fraud or deceit. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, Dao was given five years of supervised probation. According to the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure, Case and Dao spent three years scamming multiple pharmacies for prescription narcotics. The two men would frequently meet in hotel rooms to complete the exchange.
After completing his probation and submitting to a psychological evaluation, Dao’s license was re-instated in 2015 with several conditions.