An estimated 460 patients at Maryland General Hospital may have been given incorrect hepatitis and HIV test results over a 14-month period and were not notified of the problem by the hospital, the Baltimore Sun reports. Mike in Brazil State officials say that during the 14-month period of incorrect test results, which ended in August 2003, some people may have been told they were HIV-negative when they were actually HIV-positive. Others may have been informed they had a positive result on their HIV test when it was actually negative, the newspaper says. A complaint filed by a former hospital worker led to an investigation by state officials. They found that personnel in the hospital's laboratory overrode controls in the testing equipment that indicated the test results might be wrong. The laboratory staff then mailed the results to the patients, the Sun reports. 8th street latinas The hospital's general president told the newspaper that hospital executives didn't know about the testing problem until they were notified by the state in January. The hospital is notifying the patients and urging them to come to the hospital for a free re-test.