Paul Brinkmann reports: A federal indictment relating to stolen patient records at Jackson Memorial Hospital has been expanded to include a second defendant, Maria Victoria Suarez. The grand jury indictment, originally filed in July, alleges that Suarez and her husband, Ruben Rodriguez of Miami, bought patient records illegally from Rebecca Garcia from November 2006 to…
Category: Health Data
Former nurse sentenced for stealing patients' identities
As a follow-up to a case reported previously, WSLS reports that former Lynchburg nurse Karen Priscilla Jones was sentenced in federal court to 34 months in prison, two years of supervised release, and $9,132 in restitution as well as $800 in special assessment fees. Jones had pleaded guilty to three counts of identity theft, two…
HHS guts health-care breach notification law, groups warn
Jaikumar Vijayan reports: Privacy and civil rights advocates accused the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of trying to neuter a landmark data breach notification law for health care organizations that is scheduled to go into effect next week. The law would require any organization covered under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act…
Misdirected Spyware Infects Ohio Hospital
Bob McMillan reports: It was a bad idea from the start, but even as bad ideas go, this one went horribly wrong. A a 38-year-old Avon Lake, Ohio, man is set to plead guilty to federal charges after spyware he allegedly meant to install on the computer of a woman he’d had a relationship with…
Hospice nurse sentenced to 2 years in prison
A Weld District Court judge on Thursday sentenced a former hospice nurse in Greeley to two years in prison for stealing six patients’ identities to get their pain medications. Marguerite Furgerson’s sobs echoed through the Weld Courthouse hallway as she was led away in handcuffs to begin immediately serving her prison sentence. On Aug. 6,…
Misdirected Spyware Infects Ohio Hospital
Bob McMillan reports: It was a bad idea from the start, but even as bad ideas go, this one went horribly wrong. A 38-year-old Avon Lake, Ohio, man is set to plead guilty to federal charges after spyware he allegedly meant to install on the computer of a woman he’d had a relationship with ended…