"Am I Dead?" Hundreds of Patients Receive Condolence Letters in Bizarre Blunder by U.S. Medical Institution

Death Notification Letters Sent to 531 Patients Due to System Error
"We Deeply Regret This Incident... Correction and Apology Letters Sent"

A major medical institution in the United States mistakenly sent letters expressing condolences for the "death" of hundreds of living patients due to a computer system error. The letters even included instructions for inheritance procedures for bereaved families, causing significant confusion and anxiety among the patients.

MainHealth Medical Center in Portland, Maine. Google Street View

According to ABC News and other local media on November 5 (local time), MaineHealth, a nonprofit medical institution headquartered in Maine, recently sent condolence letters to 531 patients due to a computer system error.

The letters reportedly included information intended only for deceased patients, such as instructions for bereaved families on how to proceed with inheritance procedures and contact information related to estate management.

The hospital stated, "We sincerely regret this incident," and explained, "These patients were never marked as deceased in their medical records, and the issue has already been resolved." The hospital also added, "We have sent correction and apology letters to all affected patients and have completed a system review to prevent recurrence."

The cause of the incident was an error in the computer program that automatically generates documents related to estates. During the automatic printing of instructions for inheritance procedures, some patient data was misclassified, resulting in the 'death notification' being sent to actual living patients.

This is not the first time a large medical system has mistakenly notified patients of their own deaths. In 2021, after a cyberattack, the Idaho-based medical system Saint Alphonsus also mistakenly sent 'death notification' letters to some patients.

At the time, the hospital stated, "Incorrect letters were generated due to a mail merge issue," and apologized, saying, "We are sorry for the confusion and frustration caused by this incident."