It's been a while since I reviewed any "Law & Order" shows here*. It's even been a longer while that, as far as I can recall, that any "Law & Order" shows were "ripped from the headlines" -- what they used to proudly say in their ads back before the telephone was invented (well, not quite that long ago, either -- "Law & Order" debuted in 1990).
*Actually, not that long ago, I gave a rave review of Law & Order: SVU in January 2024.
But tonight's "Law & Order," just on last hour on NBC, more than made up for that, with an ethically scalding tale based on Luigi Mangione's murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in broad daylight in midtown Manhattan back in December. Of course, like all of "Law & Order" "ripped from the headline" shows, this one differs in many ways from the true story. If you're interested in what really happened, there are a myriad of factual accounts online. "Law & Order" was less interested in dramatizing all of those details than in getting at the crux of the life-and-death ethical problem that underlies both the true story and its adaptation on "Law & Order".
Which is: are health insurance companies which deny claims by people in life-threatening conditions guilty in some sense of cold-blooded murder? Now let me say here that I'm no friend of insurance companies. They do a great job collecting premiums and spending tons of money on idiotic commercials. But when it comes to paying out money for legitimate claims ... well, let's just say that's where they fall badly down on the job. And I say this after decades of fighting for justified claims for the cars that I drive and the home in which I live.
But does denial of such claims justify taking someone's life aka murder? I'd say obviously not. The ultimate proper course of action regarding those kinds of cases is to take the company to court -- civil court, where the penalty if the insurance company loses the case is money. But then what about a case in which a health insurance company denies a justified claim which leads to a person's death?
That's the thrust of episode 24.16 of "Law & Order". The hunt for the killer is obstructed by citizens who have their own, likely good, reasons for disliking the way they and their families have been treated by insurance companies. That part is fact. But, of course, the second half of "Law & Order" is the trial in the courtroom, which hasn't happened yet in the Mangione case.
I thought "Law & Order" handled that in a brilliant way. (And it was great to Benito Martinez, who played David Aceveda on The Shield, back on the screen as the judge in this profoundly important case.) But, my recommendation is ... see it for yourself.
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