Missouri woman mistakenly declared dead in 2007 still trying to prove she's alive

[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.

[First Speaker]

1. There was a story called "Computers Don't Argue", written as early as 1965...

...by science-fiction great Gordon R Dickson, which had a man who simply returned by mail a copy of "Treasure Island" to his book club ending up being tried and executed for the murder of Robert Louis Stevenson...

[GreenWave]

2. So the show me state doesn't care if she shows proof?

[Ohio Joe]

3. Computers don't make mistakes

They do exactly as they are told. Any mistakes are the fault of the programmer.

[localroger]

5. GIGO -- Garbage In, Garbage Out /nt

[NutmegYankee]

7. The point of the quote about "to really foul things up"

is that mistakes without a computer database or program tend to be limited. If this was on paper records, the error would have been fixed by now.

[IbogaProject]

4. Being non-white is obviously hurting her getting this fixed

Ugh this is so infuriating and I can easily fear the MAGAts putting this to use if they ever slither into power again. I can understand the claim for damages being dismissed, while I'm opposed to the idea she doesn't deserve recompense. But I don't understand how the lawsuit didn't compel the SSA to fix the mistake or prove the existence of a death certificate, just because they are protected from damage claims they still shouldn't be able to slander her with impunity.

[Ex Lurker]

6. My father shared the same social security number with someone with the same name

born on the same date in the same general region of the country. He was well up into adulthood before the discrepancy came up and then they had a dickens of a time getting it straightened out. It finally came down to my father having served in the military and the other guy hadn't as the only way they could tell them apart.