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Private University of Washington medical records sold at surplus store

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Dissent

Allen Schauffler reports that someone who found patient records in a piece of furniture he bought at the University of Washington surplus store turned the records over to the news station.

The medical data is mostly X-ray and MRI imaging of spines, apparently in various stages of disarray. In my very cursory check of what’s on the 19 DVDs, I don’t see any personal information that could be damaging or embarrassing to the patients. Then again, I’m not a doctor and have no idea what the images I’m seeing show about the health of the people involved.

I am finally able to contact two of the patients whose material was handed to me.

The fact that the reporter can identify the patients is a bad sign.

[…]

UW tells us they have no idea how this happened but they very clearly say it shouldn’t have, and offer apologies to all patients involved. A spokesperson says they’ll review procedures and see if they can tighten things up.

Read more on KING5.

But what do they mean, they’ll “see if they can tighten things up”? They have to “tighten things up.”  This is not acceptable.

Somewhat surprisingly, many of the comments under the news column are critical of the person who found the records, the reporter, and/or the news station.   Read the whole story and then see what you think.

Update: I asked the reporter how many patients had records on the DVDs and he indicated approximately 17.

Category: Health Data

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1 thought on “Private University of Washington medical records sold at surplus store”

  1. Anonymous says:
    February 4, 2011 at 5:59 pm

    tighten things up??? Maybe they should talk with the inmate that was carrying cocaine in a body cavity.

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