ILL-ADVISED

Hosp faxed HIV diagnosis to his job: suit

DEALING WITH the diagnosis was gut-wrenching enough.

But the fear and anxiety of living with HIV was compounded for a former Actors’ Equity employee after an Upper West Side hospital outed his condition to his coworkers.

“My most intimate and personal secrets were broadcast for anyone who happened to be walking by my office fax machine,” said the employee, who wished not to be named. “For years now, I have been struggling to cope with how my life was changed by the unbelievably careless act of the people who I trusted with my care.”

The man, who is in his early 30s, was so shattered by the unexpected disclosure that he refuses to name himself — even in court documents, where he is listed as “John Doe.”

He has filed a $2.5 million negligence suit against Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital after one of its clinics carelessly faxed his medical records to his office mailroom — virtually telling everyone that he was sick.

The lawsuit, filed Friday, claims that the man was being treated at the Spencer Cox Clinic in 2014 when he asked staffers to send his records to another clinic.

He had been diagnosed with HIV only a few months earlier.

Disregarding his specific instructions, the clinic faxed them to his office.

The files — which indicated his HIV status — were circulated around his office mailroom, then made their way to a supervisor.

The man was mortified. His most intimate struggle, one he was still trying to comprehend, had been exposed, he says.

The leak forced him to tell his family and friends about his illness — something he says he wasn’t emotionally prepared to do at the time. He also quit his job at the labor union for actors and stage managers.

“I simply could not stay with that company,” he said. “I was in a constant state of apprehension about whether or not a colleague or supervisor was looking at me differently... The paranoia and anxiety was too much.”

Mount Sinai-St. Luke’s Hospital admitted to the mistake, calling it “egregious” and a “breach” of a federal law designed to safeguard medical information, according to court papers.

The hospital paid a $387,000 fine to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, which launched an investigation based on a complaint, but has rebuffed any attempts to settle with the man, according to his attorney Jeffrey Lichtman.

“It’s bad enough to be diagnosed with HIV, but to have his health records sent to his place of work for everyone to see compounds a very difficult situation,” said Lichtman. “His family was not aware of his status and everyone at work was.”

Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital did not return a call for comment Friday.