Chapel Hill, N.C.-based University of North Carolina Health will pay a $125,000 settlement to two blind patients who said the system did not provide billing or health information in Braille or any other accessible format, according to a report in The Charlotte Observer.
The settlement came after U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick Auld recommended in January that the state-owned health system be held liable for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The lawsuit argued UNC Health violated federal disability laws by failing to communicate effectively with blind patients as with non-disabled patients.
"Failing to put the information in formats accessible to them not only violates the law, it impermissibly endangers their health," said Virginia Knowlton Marcus, CEO of Disability Rights NC.
The health system has defended its efforts to provide accommodations to sight-impaired patients.