Durham woman slapped with medical bill for procedure she never had done

Friday, January 26, 2024
DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Durham woman was billed for a medical procedure that she said she had nothing to do with.

Diane Johnson said she first noticed it when she logged onto her online Duke MyChart account and saw test results that she said didn't belong to her.

"There were test results for fluid from someone's knee. It wasn't me. I have no knee issues, never had fluid taken," Johnson said.

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Shortly after seeing the test results, she realized she'd also been billed for those tests.

"OK, I need to do something now because they're billing me for something that isn't mine."

That's when Johnson got in touch with Duke Health.

"They sent me a reply and said these results were delivered by courier. We can't tell, you know, you can't prove that it wasn't you, basically and the bill stands," she said.

Johnson couldn't believe it. She had no intention of paying for a medical procedure that she didn't need or even receive.

"It's bad that you know, they don't believe you. They just want me to prove that I didn't do it. How do I prove that?"

Despite contacted Duke customer service several times, she couldn't get results. Eventually Duke Health told her the bill was going to be sent to a collection agency to be handled.

"I just gave up and said, 'I'm going to contact Diane Wilson,' and I did."

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Wilson got Johnson's information off to Duke Health and Johnson got results.

"Three days later the bill was gone. The test results were gone and everything was good," Johnson said.

Results Johnson is happy with but wants to know how she got someone else's test results and bill for a medical procedure.

"I hope however this happened, that they figure it out and fix it so it doesn't happen to somebody else."

Duke Health did not add any comment as to how this mix up occurred.

When it comes to any type of bill you get in the mail, don't automatically just pay it, make sure you are responsible for it.
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