Salvador Hernandez reports: Boxes with documents detailing confidential patient information, such as Social Security numbers and personal medical history, were found discarded next to a medical office building, which officials said could be a violation of patient confidentiality laws. The documents, which were retrieved by a doctor about 90 minutes after they were discovered, could…
Author: Dissent
University of Utah follow-up: Plea deal offered in stolen medical records case
KSL reported on Nov. 14: Prosecutors say they’ve offered a plea deal to two men accused of obtaining stolen medical records. Thomas Anderson and Shadd Hartman each are charged with one count of felony theft by receiving stolen property and a count of unlawful possession of another’s identification documents. The Salt Lake Tribune reports prosecutors…
Ca: Privacy boss raises health data concerns
Warning – Alberta’s privacy commissioner said this week he is worried about potential changes to the provincial health information act that will make it more difficult for patients to control their medical information. Under the proposed amendments to the legislation, Frank Work believes albertans will no longer be able to prevent their most sensitive medical…
EDPS opinion on patients' rights: specific data protection dimension of cross-border healthcare needs to be addressed in more concrete terms
On 2 December 2008, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) adopted an opinion on a proposal for a Directive on the application of patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare. The proposal aims at establishing a Community framework for the provision of cross-border healthcare within the European Union (EU) for those occasions where the care patients…
Army waited to tell of possible security breach
Kevin Dougherty reports: U.S. Army medical officials in southeast Germany waited nearly two months before notifying more than 6,000 beneficiaries of a possible security breach regarding their personal information stored on a lost laptop computer. Authorities know the names, Social Security numbers and health information of at least 26 individuals were stored on the laptop,…
Former UCLA hospital employee pleads guilty
Shaya Tayefe Mohajer reports: A former UCLA Medical Center employee pleaded guilty Monday to selling the private medical information of celebrities and high-profile patients, including Britney Spears and Farrah Fawcett, to the National Enquirer. Using a wheelchair, Lawanda Jackson, 49, spoke quietly as she entered her plea to the felony charge of violating federal medical…