DENY. DEFEND. DEPOSE.
The Corruption of Big Pharma and the Making of a Message
In December 2024, the corporate towers of Manhattan were rattled by a single act of violence — not random, not senseless, but calculated. Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from Baltimore County, waited outside a luxury hotel for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. When Thompson appeared, Mangione pulled the trigger. The CEO died on the scene.
Authorities say Mangione didn’t run. He left behind a manifesto. Days later, he was arrested in Pennsylvania, reportedly carrying a duffel bag, burner phones, and handwritten notes railing against the American healthcare system. Among the details leaked was a phrase allegedly carved into the bullets he used: “DENY. DEFEND. DEPOSE.”
This wasn't just a murder — it was a message.
Mangione blamed the health insurance industry for the suffering of his mother, for the slow death sentence that comes when coverage is delayed, denied, or buried in paperwork. And he’s not the only one angry.
The system is rigged.
In America, the cost of insulin — a drug discovered over 100 years ago — can cost up to $300 per vial, while in other countries it’s pennies. Pharmaceutical companies hike prices on life-saving drugs simply because they can. Health insurance companies rake in billions in profits while ordinary people fight to get pre-approvals, get rejected for “non-covered” procedures, or drown in medical debt even with insurance.
Behind closed doors, executives play chess with lives — denying claims to save costs, defending lawsuits with entire legal teams, deposing whistleblowers who speak out. These are not isolated incidents. This is the model.
DENY.
Deny care. Deny responsibility. Deny harm.
DEFEND.
Defend profits, defend the brand, defend executives’ bonuses — not patients.
DEPOSE.
Depose doctors who resist, patients who fight, and families who suffer.
This is the architecture of American healthcare. Sanitized in corporate language. Weaponized through policy. And now, exposed in blood.
The “Deny Defend Depose” t-shirt is not for shock value. It’s the uniform of the disillusioned. The outraged. The ones who refuse to look away. On the front, two gloved hands point forward, surrounded by prescription bottles. On the back, three bullets — carved with each word — glint in a hyperrealist purple.
We’re not endorsing violence.
We’re exposing violence.
The quiet violence of inaccessible care.
The slow violence of corporate indifference.
The everyday violence of a system that profits off pain.
This is not political. This is survival.
Sources:
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CBS News – What we know about Luigi Mangione, suspect in fatal shooting of UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson
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Reuters – UnitedHealth lacks antidote for chronic anger
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Reuters – US FTC finds major pharmacy benefit managers inflated drug prices for $7.3 billion gain
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Reuters – Killing of UnitedHealthcare exec ignites patient anger over insurance
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Reuters – Middlemen have outsized influence on US drug prices, FTC says
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Yale Insights – Why Is Insulin So Expensive in the U.S.?
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