KPQ reports:
The Washington Appeals Court will hear a case from two people suing Chelan Douglas Health District over a security breach.
The Health District reported a breach in July of 2021 but did not inform possible victims or the public until March 2022.
The district said Social Security numbers, dates of birth or death, financial account information and personal medical data was removed from their site in the breach.
Read more at News Radio 560 KPQ.
The case had been dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which damages could be awarded. In related coverage, NCW Life reports that the appeal includes a claim that one of the plaintiffs had her stolen information used fraudulently after the breach.
DataBreaches had criticized Chelan Douglas’s incident response at the time, highlighting a statement that DataBreaches found unacceptable:
A spokesperson for Chelan told the news station, “A lot of times these investigations can take up to two to three years.” Davies said, “We were able to turn around and get ours done within six or seven months.”
Do they really think that two to three years is common or accepted for a health data breach notification?
The incident was subsequently reported to HHS as affecting 188236 patients.
A check of HHS’s public breach tool today reveals that HHS closed its investigation of the incident with the following note:
The covered entity (CE), Chelan Douglas Health District, reported that it experienced a cyber-attack that compromised the protected health information (PHI) of 188,236 individuals. The PHI involved included names, dates of birth, drivers’ license numbers, Social Security numbers, claims and financial information, diagnoses, and other treatment information. The CE notified HHS, affected individuals, the media, and provided substitute notice. In its mitigation efforts, the CE implemented additional administrative and technical safeguards to better protect its PHI.
Not a word about the gap between the breach and notification? Not even a slap on the wrist for the long delay in notification? HHS has yet to make any serious effort to enforce timeliness in disclosure and notification. And it’s patients who are left at risk when they are not notified or warned promptly. Let’s see what the appeals court in Washington State does when it hears the case in March.