How 531 Living Patients Were Mistakenly Declared Dead

In this week’s Mistake of the Week, Mark Graban tells the story of a Maine hospital system that accidentally mailed condolence letters to 531 very-much-alive patients. The cause? A computer glitch — and a few missing fail-safes. Mark explores what this bizarre mix-up reveals about system design, automation, and trust in healthcare. Beyond the absurd headline lies a familiar pattern: when we blame people instead of learning from process failures, we guarantee more mistakes. So what does “fully resolved” really mean? And what can leaders learn from a mistake that’s literally to die for? If you received this episode through your podcast app and not a séance, you’re doing fine.