Lawsuit against Atrium over use of Meta Pixel settled for $1.8 million
North Carolina-based Atrium Health agreed to pay $1.8 million to resolve a class action lawsuit stemming from its use of third-party trackers on its website that may have leaked personal information to tech companies like Google and Facebook.
Per the terms of the agreement, the hospital system does not admit to wrongdoing.
The lawsuit against Atrium was the result of consolidation, where multiple lawsuits filed in 2024 merged into a single class of plaintiffs, representing everyone who used Atrium’s website and patient portal between 2019 and 2025, when the code for the tracking tools was said to be active.
Central to the complaint is Meta Pixel, a background application that collects information on the users of a website, creating cookies used to serve up targeted ads to individuals as they navigate the World Wide Web.
Some of this information, however, is transmitted back to tech companies. In the case of Atrium, it was alleged that the tracker was active on its patient portal as well as its website, meaning the tool sometimes captured sensitive information on treatments and diagnoses.
As patients continue to browse, something as simple as then searching for more information on a diagnosis would add to the profile Meta Pixel was building for the purpose of marketing. In some cases, this profile could contain data such as IP addresses, which can be used to de-anonymize a user.
Further, the lawsuit contends that, by logging into Atrium’s website to access medical documents, patients were effectively identified, as the Pixel application was running.
Log in, get paid
The settlement in the lawsuit separates users based on their level of exposure. Those who did not access their accounts are entitled to a lower pro-rata share of $300,000 from the settlement fund, while patients who logged into their patient portals will split the remaining $1.5 million.
In both instances, the settlement funds will be reduced by court and lawyer fees.
How much each claimant receives will depend on how many apply for a payout. A settlement website is available that provides more details.
The settlement and final claims are scheduled to be finalized in a court hearing scheduled for Sept. 30.
HealthExec reached out to Atrium for comment.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.