I am not litigation-happy, but I am really glad to read this news from The Associated Press: The Atlanta man who was thrust into the center of a 2007 international tuberculosis scare won a major legal victory Friday when a federal appeals court allowed his lawsuit to move forward claiming health officials publicized his condition…
Category: Health Data
Johns Hopkins University e-mail attachment error exposed personal info
Johns Hopkins University has notified the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services of a breach involving 692 of its Applied Physics Laboratory employees’ dependents. Because HHS’s breach logs don’t provide a lot of detail, I contacted JHU for additional information on the incident. As I have come to expect from them, they promptly responded with full…
Medical records found at public recycling dumpster
Chellie Mills of KFOR reports that hundreds of folders containing medical records and Social Security Numbers were found at the Norman Recycling Center. The files appear to be associated with two medical practices in the Norman, Oklahoma area: Norman Pediatric Associates and Norman Urology. A lawyer for the latter practice said: Walters says, “They were…
Accused hacker granted bond in Houston Healthcare case
Becky Purser follows up on a breach first reported yesterday: A 21-year-old computer consultant accused of hacking into Houston Healthcare’s database was granted a $10,000 conditional bond Thursday in Houston County Superior Court. Christopher Stewart Wheeler of Warner Robins, who is charged with one count of theft by taking, four counts of computer theft and five…
Confidential prisoner records found discarded in dumpster
Sometimes sensitive health information is not in the hands of a HIPAA-covered entity or business associate. When there’s a breach, HIPAA won’t kick in. Here’s a case in point: Karen Velie reports that a homeless couple searching through trash discovered a box of California Men’s Colony (CMC) prisoner files: The files contained the inmates’ past criminal…
Flash drive with Medicaid numbers missing
Mainstream news is all over the breach involving the missing flash drive containing 280,000 Medicaid members’ PHI first reported yesterday. Jane M. Von Bergen follows up on her previous report with reactions from privacy advocates and the silence of the companies involved. Keystone Mercy Health Plan and AmeriHealth Mercy Health Plan are jointly owned by…