Mount Sinai Health System, the largest hospital network in New York City, has agreed to a $5.3 million settlement to resolve allegations it violated federal and state laws by sharing the personal health information of website and patient portal users with Facebook without their knowledge or consent.
Legal action was taken against Mount Sinai Health over its use of the Facebook Pixel and Conversions Application Programming Interface (CAPI) on its website and MyChart patient portal between October 2020 and October 2023. The tool can collect information about website users and transmit that information to Facebook. Mount Sinai Health has denied any wrongdoing and specifically denies that any medical information from either its website or patient portal was shared with Facebook.
The lawsuit – Cooper, et al., v. Mount Sinai Health System, Inc. – was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by plaintiffs Ronda Cooper, Coral Fraser, David Gitlin, and Gilbert Manda, who alleged that their personally identifiable health information was being collected and shared with Facebook without their knowledge or consent due to the implementation of CAPI, in violation of the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act and New York Deceptive Trade Practices. The lawsuit also asserted claims of negligence, invasion of privacy, breach of implied contract, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, breach of confidence, constructive bailment, and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
The lawsuit survived a motion to dismiss and proceeded to discovery. During discovery, the parties engaged in mediation, and a settlement was agreed in principle to bring the litigation to an end to avoid the cost and risk of a trial and related appeals, while giving appropriate benefits to class members. The terms of the settlement have now been finalized, and the settlement has received preliminary approval from the court.
The settlement class consists of 1,314,147 individuals, and claims will be accepted from individuals who logged into their MyChart account via the mountsinai.org website between October 27, 2020, and October 27, 20-23. Under the terms of the settlement, Mount Sinai Health has agreed to establish a $5,256,588 settlement fund to cover legal costs and expenses and claims from class members. The plaintiffs’ attorneys will receive up to 35% of the settlement fund and reimbursement of court-approved attorneys’ expenses. Settlement administration costs of up to $200,000 will also be deducted, along with service awards of $2,500 per named plaintiff. The remainder of the settlement fund will be distributed to class members on a pro rata basis.
The deadline for objecting to the settlement, opting out, and filing a claim for benefits is October 14, 2025. The final approval hearing has been scheduled for October 24, 2025.
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