MARIETTA, GA — Marietta-based Wellstar Health System has agreed to pay $4.25 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over the privacy of patient medical records.

The lawsuit alleged Wellstar shared patients’ health information through MyChart with third parties, including Meta and Google.

WSB consumer expert Clark Howard said while sharing certain medical information can be beneficial during emergencies, it also raises privacy concerns.

“It also leaves a huge amount of information out there that’s valuable to so many marketers, advertisers, websites, and companies of all different types,” Howard said.

The settlement covers about 870,000 patients. Howard said the amount would amount to less than $5 per person if every eligible patient filed a claim.

“The amount of money sounds awfully small to me for what was such a violation of trust,” Howard said.

Wellstar said the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing. The agreement must still be approved by a judge before affected patients are notified by mail, officials say.