The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced last week that Joshua Welch, 35, of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, pleaded guilty to the crime of unlawfully obtaining the private medical information of another person. Welch pleaded before United States District Judge William K. Sessions III in Burlington. According to statements made…
Category: Health Data
WA: Unencrypted USB drive with patient data and Social Security numbers reported missing
This is one of the incidents for which we previously had no details. Gene S. J. Liaw, M.D., a Washington physician, reported an incident involving a lost device to the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services and they summarized the incident this way: An unencrypted USB drive used to store patient information could not…
Breaches without details (updated)
When HHS’s breach tool reveals a breach I was not already aware of, I try to investigate or find media sources. Sometimes, despite my efforts, I can find nothing online to clarify a breach report. In some cases, I write to the organizations, who may – or may not – answer. Here are some breaches…
Missing or stolen Logan County Emergeny Ambulance Service Authority laptop contained data on over 12,000 patients
Logan County Emergeny Ambulance Service Authority in West Virginia notified HHS that a missing laptop contained protected health information on 12,563. The only coverage I can find on this was in the Logan Banner on November 18. Martha Sparks reported: Area residents who have been serviced by LEASA (Logan Emergency Ambulance Service Authority) may have their…
UK: Morecambe Bay Hospitals Trust under fire: Crudely-titled email sparks watchdog probe
Helen Perkins reports: A government watchdog has launched an investigation into an incident where midwives emailed an crudely-titled file with confidential patient details to an unknown party. The Health Service Ombudsman plans to probe staff at Furness General Hospital over a breach of data protection. Despite its confidential nature, an email by the University Hospitals…
Hershey Medical Center employee fired after breach of Joe Paterno's records
Sarah Ganim reports: A Penn State Hershey Medical Center employee has been fired for allegedly accessing Joe Paterno’s billing and registration records without permission, according to a source with direct knowledge of the breach. It happened the day after the 84-year-old was fired from his longtime Penn State head football coaching job, but two days…