The U.S. Supreme Court Dec. 12 said it will not review a California Supreme Court decision that held the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) does not preclude a lawsuit alleging a debt collector disclosed medical records in violation of a California medical information privacy statute (Mortensen v. Brown, U.S., No. 11-434, review denied). The…
Category: Health Data
Ca: BC Transplant investigates privacy breach
BC Transplant has initiated an internal investigation into a recent privacy breach. According to a news release, issued Thursday morning, a BC Transplant staff member’s car was broken into after business hours. As a result of this criminal act, a bag containing patient information and staff contact information was stolen. The staff member filed a…
OR: St. Charles Health System reports stolen laptop (updated – recovered)
KBND reports: About 145 patients who visited St Charles recently are getting letters in the mail saying that there was a privacy breach that could affect them. In late October, an employee laptop was stolen from their car parked outside their home. Lisa Goodman with St. Charles says the case is considered “low” risk for several reasons. “Number…
VT: Doctor pleads guilty to accessing patient records
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…
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…