The man seen being dragged off a United flight may not be such a sympathetic figure after all.

Reports are emerging that reveal the man, David Dao, to have a checkered past including trading drugs for sex with at least one patient.

On “MSNBC Live,” correspondent Tom Costello noted the following: “We are now getting several tabloid reports, which we are working hard to confirm, that this man is in fact a 69 year old doctor from Kentucky who himself has had run-ins with the law. We are working on that, to verify that ourselves. But this story seems to grow more complicated by the hour.”

Watch…

The reports have been substantiated in more detail by the Courier-Journal, which is the paper-of-record for Dr. Dao’s hometown of Louisville, KY…

While the case has been settled in the court of public opinion and United was quickly found guilty by media and the public, there are some who feel that Dr. Dao’s tantrum throughout the ordeal was also an overreaction…

Will the recent revelations about Dr. Dao’s disgusting past change a few more minds? Hard to tell, but this story — unfortunately, perhaps — appears affixed in the news cycle indefinitely.