Linn Freedman updates us all on litigation stemming from a breach previously reported on this site: We previously reported on the multiple data breach litigation suits filed against Medical Informatics Engineering, Inc. following a data breach in May, 2015. On December 10, 2015, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation centralized the nine pending suits—five pending…
Category: Health Data
Nursing Home Workers Share Explicit Photos of Residents on Snapchat
by Charles Ornstein ProPublica, Dec. 21, 2015, 7 a.m. This story was co-published with the Washington Post. Nursing home workers across the country are posting embarrassing and dehumanizing photos of elderly residents on social media networks such as Snapchat, violating their privacy, dignity and, sometimes, the law. ProPublica has identified 35 instances since 2012 in…
Ca: Halifax doctor reprimanded for snooping in case files of injured workers
Claire Mellor reports: The regulatory body for physicians in Nova Scotia has reprimanded a Halifax physician for inappropriately accessing injured workers’ charts at the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia. A College of Physicians & Surgeons of Nova Scotia decision released Thursday said Dr. Donald Haigh consented to a reprimand for breaching expected standards of…
TX: Former heart clinic employee admits to illegally disclosing patient’s medical records
Yet another “small” breach with big harm. Kevin Krause reports: Ebony Shonte Echols was not happy with a patient — a commercial airline pilot — who complained about the heart clinic where she worked. So she sent his health information to the Federal Aviation Administration against his wishes, federal authorities said. Echols, 35, a former employee…
Brother of the Year: Medical ID Theft Suspect Arrested, Accused of Impersonating Long-Lost Brother
After an eight-month investigation prompted by an NBC Bay Area report, local authorities arrested and extradited Gary Wayne Bogle, charging him with 10 felony counts of false impersonation for using his brother’s identity to receive medical treatment. Read the report by Vicky Nguyen and David Paredes on NBC Bay Area. Related: Ponemon Fifth Annual Study on Medical Identity Theft
UK: ICO fines HIV support network for repeated e-mail gaffes exposing individuals’ names
The Information Commissioner’s Office has fined the Bloomsbury Patient Network (BPN) after it inadvertently revealed the identities of HIV patients on two occasions due to placing all addresses for a newsletter distribution list in the “to” field instead of the “bcc” field. BPN was fined £250, which may seem somewhat mild considering the potential embarrassment to individuals….