A medical center in the United Kingdom accidentally sent a mass text message to patients that they were diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer instead of wishing them a Merry Christmas.
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The text message was sent from the Askern Medical Practice in Doncaster on December 23 and the clinic said they asked a patient to fill out a form DS1500, a form for patients who have a terminal illness to apply for benefits. According to CBS News, the message told approximately 8,000 patients that they were diagnosed with an aggressive form of “lung cancer with metastases.” In a follow-up text message, the clinic asked the patients to accept their apology for the error.
A U.K. doctor’s office mistakenly sent texts to patients on Christmas Eve informing them of terminal lung cancer diagnoses. They apologized and said it was meant to offer them holiday greetings.https://t.co/kGeUoJTrUd
— NPR (@NPR) December 30, 2022
“This has been sent in error. Our message to you should have read We wish you a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,” it reads. However, a public statement about the text message has yet to be released.
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The clinic faced backlash online after the text message went viral on Twitter. One person wrote, “How absolutely awful! The fact that this was ever a text, to begin with is disturbing. Even if true, no one should be given this diagnosis via text.” Twitter users also accused the center of gross negligence since they failed to overlook the messages before sending them out.
Carl Chegwin explained to the BBC that his mother was one of the people who received the message and she was worried about her health. He said the message took him by surprise since the timing was off due to the holiday season.
“They’ve just told people a few days before Christmas they’ve got terminal lung cancer. They can’t do that.”
Creepy and smacks of gross negligence. Imagine what patients must be going through after this message.
— Harshad Chandre (@HarshadChandre) December 30, 2022
It’s a bad mistake. But my larger question is: Why would ANYONE be receiving a terminal diagnosis via text message? That’s so messed up. What, doctors can’t be bothered to CALL people & let them know they’re dying? Like a decent, compassionate human being?
— Kelly Mangan (She/Her) 🏳️🌈 (@KellyAMangan) December 30, 2022
It’s one thing to mistakenly send the wrong message to 8,000 patients; it’s another not to have systems to check messages sent to 8,000 people. It’s yet another to PLAN to tell anyone about cancer tests by text message; another to PLAN to have a no-reply useless reply address. pic.twitter.com/yZ467VCHZe
— Harold Thimbleby (@haroldthimbleby) December 29, 2022