Frustration over the lack of reform in the industry has been simmering for years, Mueller told CBS News. Which is why Mueller said he was not unnerved as he exchanged emails with a Miami-based medical resident who had taken an interest in dialysis — and specifically, the use of a specific medication he thought could be harming patients.
“The kinds of emails he sent were totally rational, very thoughtful, extremely data-driven,” Mueller said, calling Andre Obua “the last person in the world I would think to commit a violent act.”
Over dozens of pages, the letters Obua sent to CBS News from jail describe how he grew up in a low-income household in Ann Arbor, Michigan — a background that “shaped my world views and motivates me to advocate for the less fortunate,” he wrote.
He says he first heard during an internal medical rotation about the use of a medication being prescribed to kidney patients to speed up the dialysis process, which he believed endangered their health. It appears from his writing that this concern went from being an interest to being an obsession.
“It became clear that the hospital system had very little to gain and a lot to lose by exposing this scheme,” he wrote. The hospital denied his account.
His mistrust of the dialysis industry only grew. At one point, he described seeking out a lawyer to file a whistleblower lawsuit, but was ultimately persuaded he could not succeed in court.
CBS News sought to verify his claims, but no kidney expert interviewed believed that the medication in question harmed patients. Nevertheless, Obua unspooled mountains of his research, theories and accusations on a public website.
A source familiar with the case told CBS News Obua had drawn up a list of kidney doctors to target. Near the top was the victim of his attack in Indiana.
In January, for reasons Obua would not directly address in his letters and conversations with CBS News, the 29-year-old said he loaded his car with firearms and a bag of Monopoly money — similar to the one left behind by alleged UnitedHealthcare shooter Luigi Mangione — and headed north towards Indiana.
Police reports say Obua fired at a Terre Haute kidney specialist without warning, striking the doctor in the hand. The two wrestled in the tranquil suburban driveway until police arrived and placed Obua under arrest.
Mueller shakes his head when thinking about the bright future Obua seemingly abandoned that winter evening.
“It says we’re living in extreme times,” he said. “And it’s a tragic, tragic event.”
Modesitt, the prosecutor, said he has no sympathy for the young medical resident who’s now facing attempted murder charges.
“If you’ve got a problem in any way with the system or anything else, we have attorney generals, we have secretary of states, different entities that you can file a complaint with,” Modesitt said. “But it’s never justified to take the law in your own hands.”
Obua is scheduled to go on trial in August.
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