Lawmakers are questioning why the government waited almost a month to warn 2,500 patients enrolled in a National Institutes of Health study that some of their medical records were in a stolen laptop computer.The laptop was stolen from the locked trunk of a researcher’s car on Feb. 23, but the NIH didn’t send letters notifying…
Category: Health Data
Contrary to PHR Vendor Hype, Privacy Remains the "Elephant in the Room"
Posted by hippocrates on Trusted.MD: A few weeks ago I posted some commentary on the battle of Google vs. Microsoft in PHR arena. My thinking was that the motivation to use such tools could prove to be a bigger obstacle than privacy. Looking at recent PHR coverage I would opine that privacy still might end…
Keep an eye on your medical ID
Michelle Andrews of U.S. News and World Report writes: If identity thieves were to disregard your financial accounts and instead target your medical information, your first thought might well be, “Take my medical identity. Please.” What nut would want your high cholesterol, trick knee and family history of Alzheimer’s? The answer is simple: One without…
Stolen government laptop held patient data
Ellen Nakashima and Rick Weiss write in the Washington Post: A government laptop computer containing sensitive medical information on 2,500 patients enrolled in a National Institutes of Health study was stolen in February, potentially exposing seven years’ worth of clinical trial data, including names, medical diagnoses and details of the patients’ heart scans. The information…
Man stole vet ID to get married, have surgery
The Associated Press reports: A Colorado man is accused of stealing an Army veteran’s identity and using it for 24 years to get married, obtain free medical treatment and even serve as president of a VFW post. Mark Mulcahy, 46, faces felony charges of identity theft, forgery and criminal impersonation. He was being held in…
Five Dollars Buys Man Hundreds of Private Medical Records
Medical records are supposed to be between a person and their doctor, but a Maryland man suddenly found himself the owner of hundreds of patients’ most private information. Inside a unit at the Fort Knox storage facility, there’s a potential gold mine of information, including boxes of people’s medical records. On man unwittingly bought all…