The identity of the man dragged from the overbooked United Airlines flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville, Ky., has been revealed: David Dao, MD, a pulmonologist from Elizabethtown, Ky.
Dr. Dao's identity was first reported by the Louisville Courier-Journal, which was criticized for "victim blaming" by reporting the physician's criminal record after the United incident.
The Courier-Journal reported that Dr. Dao was a native of Vietnam and moved to the U.S. to set up a practice in Elizabethtown after completing medical school in the 1970s. He was arrested in 2003 and convicted in November 2004 on multiple felony accounts of fraudulently obtaining controlled substances, according to the newspaper. He was given five years supervised probation and surrendered his medical license in 2005. The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure allowed him to resume practicing in 2015, according to the Courier-Journal.
The newspaper's executive editor, Joel Christopher, defended the coverage of Dr. Dao, noting that he is well-known in their local market, according to a report from the New Republic.
This article was updated April 12, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. CT.
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