531 (Living) Patients Get News of Their Death

Some days it's just not worth picking up the mail: bills, junk, and if you're particularly unlucky, a notice of your own death. Such is the case for 531 quite-alive customers of MaineHealth, who were sent letters directed to their next of kin with premature instructions on how to handle their demise, reports News Center Maine. Thanks to a computer glitch, the notice went out on Oct. 20 to ostensibly surprised customers in the form of estate vendor letters. "MaineHealth sincerely regrets this error and has sent apology letters to all patients who have been affected," a rep said, per the Maine Wire, adding that "at no time were these patients listed as deceased in their medical records and the issue has been fully resolved."

The Wire had a little fun with the boo-boo, noting that "on the bright side, by setting the bar so low for these 531 patients it is likely that any health outcome they face between now and the final hour will be seen as an improvement over their reported status in the letters." Apology letters, presumably correctly addressed to the affected patients, have been sent out.