Patients whose HIV status was revealed in envelope windows take insurance company to court
A U.S. insurance company is facing down a class-action lawsuit after it mailed out thousands of letters to clients who take HIV medications. Their private medical information was displayed in envelopes with large, clear windows.
"People with HIV have faced all kinds of stigma, discrimination and violence as a result of their status being disclosed," Ronda Goldfein, executive director of AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, told As It Happens guest host Susan Bonner.
"My clients are both horrified that their information is released and afraid to report that their information was released."
The response and the stigma around HIV is unique and profound.- Ronda Goldfein, AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania
Aetna mailed out 12,000 such letters, some of which revealed their clients' names alongside instructions about where to purchase their HIV drugs. It's not clear how many of the letters were positioned in a way that revealed personal information.
Goldfein said the breach is already impacting people's lives in significant ways after their roommates, family members, neighbours and colleagues have inadvertently learned of their HIV status.
"For some folks, they know exactly who saw it because they report coming home from work and seeing their mother crying or getting a message from a roommate," she said.
"Sadly, we've already heard of a handful of cases of people who have lost their housing as a result of the person they were living with getting this information.
"The response and the stigma around HIV is unique and profound. People have very strong reactions. They don't understand how HIV is transmitted, they have mistaken ideas about risk and they strike out both figuratively and literally against people with HIV."
The federal lawsuit was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia by the AIDS Law Project, the Legal Action Center and Berger & Montague, P.C.
The lead plaintiff is a Bucks County, Penn., man who says his sister learned he was taking HIV medications because of the letter.
He has chosen to remain anonymous and filed the suit under the pseudonym Andrew Beckett, the name of Tom Hanks' character in the 1993 film Philadelphia, which follows the plight of a man who faces workplace discrimination because of his HIV-AIDS status.
"We feel that the movie came to symbolize a way of establishing the rights of people with HIV," Goldfein said. "We're sad to say that that stigma is still alive and well."
Aetna declined to comment on the lawsuit, but has issued an apology for the privacy breach.
"We sincerely apologize to those affected by a mailing issue that inadvertently exposed the personal health information of some Aetna members," spokesman Ethan Slavin said in an email to As It Happens.
"This type of mistake is unacceptable, and we are undertaking a full review of our processes to ensure something like this never happens again."
As It Happens has also obtained a copy of a letter Aetna sent to affected clients notifying them of the breach and blaming the error on a third-party vendor.
"Regardless of how this error occurred, it affects our members and it is our responsibility to do our best to make things right. We will work to ensure that proper safeguards are in place to prevent something similar from happening in the future," it reads.
Goldfein, however, says sorry isn't good enough.
"Certainly, the fact that the company recognizes its error and promises to do better in the future is good, but you don't get to devastate people's lives and say, 'OK, no harm, no foul,'" she said.
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