U.S. Healthwork has notified HHS and 1400 patients after a laptop with protected health information was stolen from an employee. Although the laptop was encrypted, the password was stolen with the laptop. Notice to our Patients Regarding a Privacy Incident U.S. HealthWorks understands the importance of protecting the security of personal information of our patients….
Category: Health Data
FTC pushes back against LabMD application for stay
The FTC has uploaded complaint counsel’s opposition to LabMD’s application for a stay of the final order in FTC v. LabMD. Did they really write that with a straight face? It was difficult to read it without alternately laughing, spluttering, or fuming. Consider the opening paragraph of complaint counsel’s opposition (I’m interspersing my reactions): Respondent has…
It’s 10 pm somewhere. Do you know where your old databases are?
An old database that seems to have magically reappeared online more than a decade after it was removed reminds us of an often-overlooked risk. In January, DataBreaches.net reported that a behavior intervention therapist’s database was exposed online due to a misconfigured MongoDB installation. What struck me about the incident was that the therapist likely had no idea that a company she had…
CA: Anesthesiologist notifies patients after PHI wound up in a trash container
Anesthesiologist Pratap S. Kurra, M.D., is notifying some of his patients whose protected health information was found to have been discarded improperly on August 8. In a template of the notification letter uploaded to the California Attorney General’s web site, Dr. Kurra writes: On August 9, 2016, I was informed that papers related to my…
RI: University Gastroenterology notifies patients of ransomware attack
University Gastroenterology is notifying patients after what sounds like a ransomware attack. In a notice on their web site, they write that on July 11, 2016, they discovered that an unauthorized individual had gained access to an electronic file storage system from a practice they had acquired in 2014, Consultants in Gastroenterology, and encrypted several files….
CA: Yuba-Sutter Medical Clinic discloses August ransomware attack
Yuba-Sutter Medical Clinic is notifying patients after a ransomware attack on August 3. Fortunately, the center was able to regain access relatively quickly and no data were lost, although they acknowledge that they did experience some delays in accessing internal information and patient information while they worked to regain access. As far as they can…