In a shocking administrative error, MaineHealth, which is a nonprofit healthcare system serving communities across Maine and parts of New Hampshire, mistakenly sent condolence letters to 531 living patients, informing them of their own deaths. The incident occurred on October 20, 2025, when patients received letters meant for the families of deceased individuals. According to MaineHealth, the letters were generated due to a malfunction in the computer system responsible for creating estate or next-of-kin correspondence.
According to a statement shared with ABC News, the error started from a glitch in the computer system that generates letters to estate representatives. MaineHealth clarified that while condolence letters were sent in error, the affected individuals were never marked as deceased in their official medical records.
The issue occurred when the health system mistakenly mailed wrongful letters to estate representatives. The letters, originally intended for families of patients who had recently died, were instead delivered to individuals who were still very much alive due to a system error.
A spokesperson for MaineHealth told ABC News that the health system “sincerely regrets this error” and clarified that at no point were the patients marked as deceased in their official medical records.
Recipients described feeling confused and distressed because the condolence letters spoke about life-threatening diseases and most of the people who received those were happy and thriving otherwise.
One woman from Sanford, Maine, told People magazine that the experience was “really shocking and upsetting.” She added that she had not been treated for any life-threatening condition, making the error even more baffling.
The same woman also noticed an additional document attached to the letter, which she later discovered was an unpaid hospital bill. When she called the hospital about the bill, the person on the other end responded, "I am glad you're still alive." She replied, “Yeah, me too,” as reported by People.
The woman also spoke to CBS13 where she recalled, “I’ve had some tests done and my doctor is part of MaineHealth but I haven’t even been in the hospital for anything serious that I could have died from. So I don’t even know where they got that information.”
The health system said it immediately reviewed its mailing and notification protocols and confirmed that the error was confined to printed correspondence. No patient data or records were altered in the electronic system, according to the hospital’s statement to local media outlets.
MaineHealth confirmed that measures have since been taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.
(Rh/ARC/MSM)