One week after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot outside a Manhattan hotel, where investigators found bullet casings inscribed with the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” a book about the health care industry with a title using a similar phrase has become an Amazon bestseller. 

What You Need To Know

  • The book “Delay, Deny, Defend” is an Amazon bestseller

  • The words "delay," "deny" and "depose" were found on bullet casings outside a Manhattan hotel where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot last week

  • Originally published in 2010, the book explains “why insurance companies don’t pay claims and what you can do about it” and features a burning house lighting up an insurance policy as its cover art

  • While the motives of alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione are unclear, investigators said he had a handwritten note that complained about insurance companies' values growing while Americans’ life expectancy has stagnated

Originally published in 2010, "Delay, Deny, Defend" explains “why insurance companies don’t pay claims and what you can do about it" and features a burning house lighting up an insurance policy as its cover art.

The book is currently Amazon’s No. 1 bestseller in insurance law and No. 2 among all paid nonfiction titles.

In a blurb, the book is described as “an expose of insurance injustice” that says “the denial of valid insurance claims is not occasional or accidental or the fault of a few bad employees. It’s the result of an increasing and systematic focus on maximizing profits by major companies.”

Two days after the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting, “Delay, Defend, Deny” author Jay Feinman, a professor emeritus at Rutgers Law School, posted on X that the paperback version of the book was out of stock on Amazon but would be restocked soon. He redirected readers to the Kindle version, which now has an average rating of 4.6 based on 138 reviews. 

While the motives of alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione are unclear, investigators said he had a handwritten note that complained about insurance companies' values growing while Americans’ life expectancy has stagnated. Multiple news reports said the 26-year-old, who was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday, suffered from debilitating back pain and underwent surgery for the condition in 2023.