George Gombossy reports that less than 24 hours after Griffin Hospital revealed a breach, the Connecticut Attorney General is on it: Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says he is investigating a breach of medical information that was brought to his attention by Griffin Hospital. “My office is investigating allegations that a radiologist formerly affiliated with…
Author: Dissent
Google and Facebook raise new issues for therapists and their clients
Dana Scarton reports: As his patient lay unconscious in an emergency room from an overdose of sedatives, psychiatrist Damir Huremovic was faced with a moral dilemma: A friend of the patient had forwarded to Huremovic a suicidal e-mail from the patient that included a link to a Web site and blog he wrote. Should Huremovic…
Letters tip off patients
Pierrette J. Shields reports: Boulder Community Hospital officials are investigating anonymous letters sent to patients of a Lafayette clinic along with medical records that the sender claims were pulled from the trash. A Longmont woman told the Times-Call she received the anonymous letter Monday with a page from her son’s medical records that included private…
Industry Rep Calls Patient Privacy 'Overblown' Worry
The Wall Street Journal recently published an op-ed by Deborah Peel, M.D., “Your Medical Records Aren’t Secure.” Read the responses to it here. You may wish to have a barf bag handy when you read the comments by Mary R. Grealy of the president of the Healthcare Leadership Council. Let’s start out with a simple…
New breasts cost woman 180 days in jail
Unreal (no pun intended). Yet another case ID theft for plastic surgery. A Laguna Niguel woman accused of using a fraudulent line of credit to obtain $12,000 in cosmetic surgery was sentenced to 180 days in jail for her guilty plea Monday to second-degree burglary, grand theft and identity theft, according to court records. Yvonne…
Nearly 350 non-medical workers have access to confidential patient records at West Middlesex Hospital
Paul Teed reports: West Middlesex Hospital today insisted it has strict security around confidential patient records after a campaign group raised concerns over the number of non-medical staff with access to documents. Big Brother Watch said regular breaches across the country had resulted from slack safeguarding of sensitive personal information. The hospital in Twickenham Road,…