The Kentucky doctor ripped from his United Airlines seat — causing a national uproar — remains in the hospital.
David Dao — the Elizabethtown, Ky., doctor identified as the victim in the viral video — is undergoing treatment at a Chicago hospital for his injuries, his attorneys said in a statement obtained by CNBC.
"The family of Dr. Dao wants the world to know that they are very appreciative of the outpouring of prayers, concerns and support they have received," Stephen L. Golan, the family's attorney, said in the statement. "Currently, they are focused only on Dr. Dao's medical care and treatment."
Dao's condition wasn't made clear.
Dao was one of four passengers asked to leave an overbooked United Airlines flight Sunday that was departing from Chicago to Kentucky.
When Dao refused to give up his seat, cops were recorded forcibly removing the doctor from his seat and dragging him down the airplane aisle.
He has not been criminally charged for the flight incident.
http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.3043208.1491922160!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_1200/dao12n-1-web.jpg 1200w">Dao appeared bloody and disoriented after he was pulled from the United Airlines flight on Sunday.
(Kaylyn Davis-Twitter)Dao was seen moments later back on the plane, bloodied and disoriented.
The United dragging should spark a revolt against Big Business
The national scandal also put the spotlight on Dao's checkered past with the law.
He was previously convicted for drug-related crimes that saw him fork over his medical license for a decade, according to reports.
The beleaguered doctor — who was educated in Vietnam and later moved to the U.S. — was first arrested 14 years ago as part of an undercover investigation, documents indicate.
The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure launched a probe — documentation of which surfaced online — which found Dao and accomplice Brian Case had been trading prescription drugs in exchange for sex.
Dao was accused of hiring Case after giving him a physical exam, making him an office manager, according to a report filed with the board last year.
http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.3043209.1491922162!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_1200/united.jpg 1200w">Dao was recorded as cops dragged him from the flight.
(@JayseDavid via Twitter)Case — who was eventually indicted with Dao — quit the job after the doctor made inappropriate comments. But Dao allegedly “pursued him aggressively” to the point where he agreed to trade off prescription drugs in exchange for sex, the report indicates.
Dao was accused at one point of splitting the drugs with Case, and wrote personal checks for him to fill the prescriptions.
Both were arrested at a motel in July 2003 and charged with obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or forgery. In all, he was hit with 90 felony counts at the time, according to local reports.
Dao was convicted of the multiple charges in November 2004, and sentenced the following January to five years of supervised probation. He also handed over his medical license.
The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure — which couldn’t be reached for additional comment Tuesday — allowed Dao to begin practicing medicine under set terms in 2015, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported.
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