Aetna agreed to pay $4.3 million to attorneys who represented plaintiffs of a class-action lawsuit concerning an inadvertent disclosure of their HIV status, according to Bloomberg Law.
The fee is part of a $17 million settlement the health insurer reached with the plaintiffs in January. The settlement resolved a federal class-action lawsuit filed in August 2017 after Aetna inadvertently revealed the HIV status of some of its members when it mailed letters with information clearly visible through a window on the envelopes about filling prescriptions for HIV medications as well as pre-exposure prophylaxis, a pill that helps prevent a person from contracting HIV. The letters were mailed July 28 to about 12,000 customers in multiple states.
A Pennsylvania federal judge granted Aetna's request for fees and an award of $73,892 in out-of-pocket costs Oct. 16. The judge also approved the final settlement.
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