Copyright VICE
There are a lot of scammers out there trying to lure you in with sensationalized emails and letters. You have to keep your head on a swivel. We all understand this nowadays, to varying degrees. But are any of us truly prepared to receive a letter in the mail from our healthcare provider informing us that we’ve died? They are the experts. They would know such things. But I’m holding the letter telling me I’m dead. I feel alive. Who’s to say? Maybe I’m a ghost? That is probably a little bit of what was going through the minds of several people who are a part of MaineHealth, one of New England’s largest health care networks, which recently sent out more than 500 letters offering condolences to “dead” patients who were still very much alive. Over 500 Living Patients in Maine Were Told That They Died The nonprofit system spans hospitals and clinics across Maine and New Hampshire. It fessed up to accidentally sending letters to 531 people expressing sympathy for their passing and offering information on how their families could settle their estates. A MaineHealth spokesperson told ABC News the mix-up was caused by a computer system glitch that misfired while generating “estate vendor” letters. Thankfully, none of the affected patients were ever listed as deceased in their actual medical records. The spokesperson said the issue has since been “fully resolved,” insisting the problem is fixed. Letters have been mailed out to patients, apologizing for calling them dead. For the sake of comedy, let’s hope they were mistakenly mailed to dead people.
