MALLGREN v. UNITED HEALTHCARE et al

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
ANTHONY BRIAN MALLGREN, )
)
Plaintiff, )
v. ) Civil Action No. 26-1481 (UNA)
)
)
UNITED HEALTHCARE, et al., )
)
Defendants. )
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter is before the Court on the plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma pauperis,
ECF No. 2, and pro se complaint, ECF No. 1. The Court grants the application and dismisses the
complaint without prejudice.
“A complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to
relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl.
Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). A complaint that lacks “an arguable basis either in
law or in fact” is frivolous, Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989), and the Court cannot
exercise subject matter jurisdiction over a frivolous complaint, Hagans v. Lavine, 415 U.S. 528,
536-37 (1974) (“Over the years, this Court has repeatedly held that the federal courts are without
power to entertain claims otherwise within their jurisdiction if they are ‘so attenuated and
unsubstantial as to be absolutely devoid of merit.’”) (quoting Newburyport Water Co. v.
Newburyport, 193 U.S. 561, 579 (1904)); Tooley v. Napolitano, 586 F.3d 1006, 1010 (D.C. Cir.
2009). Consequently, the Court is obligated to dismiss a complaint as frivolous when, as here,
“the facts alleged rise to the level of the irrational or the wholly incredible,” Denton v. Hernandez,
504 U.S. 25, 33 (1992), or “postulat[e] events and circumstances of a wholly fanciful kind,” Crisafi
v. Holland, 655 F.2d 1305, 1307-08 (D.C. Cir. 1981).
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“Immediate disbandment of the United States healthcare system,” Compl. ¶ 11, and
“[c]essation of all medical licensing,” id. ¶ 12, is not warranted based on plaintiff’s encounter with
staff at the health club to which defendant referred him. The complaint’s few factual allegations
are unintelligible, and to the extent they can be understood, the Court deems them irrational and
incredible. And the Court cannot exercise jurisdiction of a frivolous complaint. An Order will be
issued separately.
DATE: June 1, 2026 /s/
CHRISTOPHER R. COOPER
United States District Judge
DATE: June 1, 2026 /s/
CHRISTOPHER R. COOPER
United States District Judge
Case 1:26-cv-01481-UNA Document 3 Filed 06/01/26 Page 2 of 2