Missouri woman mistakenly declared dead in 2007 still trying to prove she's alive [View all]

[Jilly_in_VA]

Sixteen years ago, Madeline-Michelle Carthen was preparing for a summer internship in Ghana after she was accepted into Webster University's intern exchange program when she received shocking news: her Social Security number was associated with a deceased person.

"I laughed," Carthen, from St. Louis, Missouri, who was at the time was named Madeline Coburn, said in a phone call Tuesday. She added that at the time she initially dismissed it as a simple mistake. "I said, ‘What do you mean? I’m sitting right here. I’ve been at school over a year and a half. … How am I dead? Is this going to affect my international internship?’"

The mistake wasn't a simple fix and cost Carthen, now 52, her livelihood. She had to withdraw from school and over the years has been fired from jobs and kicked out of her home — all because on paper it says she died in 2007.

"I just know I'm alive. I don't care what A.I. says or software says, but I'm alive," she said. "But it's hard to prove that."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/missouri-woman-mistakenly-declared-dead-2007-still-trying-prove-alive-rcna117417

This happened to one of my home health patients back in the 90s but it got fixed sooner. Just goes to prove the old adage--Anyone can make a mistake, but to really foul things up it takes a computer.