Venkat Balasubramani discusses two recent court decisions that turned data breach plaintiffs away. The first case is the Hannaford case, discussed previously on this blog, but I was surprised to learn that the Providence Health System breach finally was decided: Paul v. Providence Health System-Oregon, (Ore. Ct. App. Oct. 6, 2010): this case involved the…
Category: Health Data
Breach Notice: The Struggle for Medical Records Security Continues
William Pewen, who was involved in drafting the language in ARRA, has an excellent commentary on Health Affairs Blog: On July 28 the Obama Administration surprised many in the health sector by withdrawing a pending Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) final “breach notification” rulegoverning when consumers must be informed of illicit access or use of…
Ca: Investigation finds veteran’s personal information was mishandled
In response to recent news of a breach involving a veteran’s medical information, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has already completed an investigation and announced findings. From the press release: An investigation has highlighted the serious mishandling of a veteran’s personal information, entrusted to the care of Veterans Affairs Canada, says Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart. …
Cancer researcher fights UNC demotion over data breach
Gregory Childress reports that a data breach had significant consequences for a researcher. Because I don’t recall ever seeing such consequences before, I think this is pretty newsworthy: A UNC cancer researcher is fighting a demotion and pay cut she received after a security breach in the medical study she directs. Bonnie Yankaskas, a professor…
Dumped Medical Files Put Dozens of Omaha Patients at Risk
Molli Graham reports: Thanks to an alert viewer, KMTV Action 3 News uncovers a frightening find that could put hundreds of people’s personal information in danger. Names, social security numbers, and sensitive medical records are left for anyone to find. We’re taking action to protect those records and get you answers. On Tuesday night, we tracked…
Ca: Investigation wraps up into security breach
As a follow-up to a breach previously mentioned here, the MyKawartha web site reports: More than 25,000 documents were left behind at the former St. Joseph’s hospital due to a miscommunication, says Jonathan Bennett, chief communications officer at the hospital. Now that the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario has reviewed the hospital’s investigation into…