Joel Eisenbaum reports: Houston Methodist Hospital will take unspecified “corrective action” following a Local 2 investigation. Our report uncovered a billing error that put the private medical information of four people into the hands of a stranger. The compromised private information of those patients included: names, addresses, hospital account numbers, dates of procedures, types of…
Category: Health Data
Ca: Mounties accused of privacy breach in handing over medical records
The RCMP is accused of violating the privacy of several of its members by handing over their personal medical records in a dispute with a B.C. psychologist. The Mounted Police Professional Association of Canada filed a complaint today asking the federal privacy commissioner to investigate. The association claims the information was disclosed to B.C.’s College…
Former Boca Raton Regional Hospital employee sentenced to jail for identity theft
Brian Bandell reports the sentencing of two involved in the Boca Raton Regional Hospital breach reported previously on this blog: A former employee of Boca Raton Regional Hospital was sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing patient records as part of a tax refund fraud scheme. Shalamar Major, of Deerfield Beach, was a scheduler at the hospital….
Stolen laptop contained 2,000 Fairfax student health records
T. Rees Shapiro reports: A laptop containing health records for 2,000 Fairfax County public school students was stolen out of a health department employee’s car, possibly compromising the confidential information, school and health officials said. In a letter to families, school officials said that the laptop was stolen on July 15, when someone broke into a school…
HHS updates its breach tool, but still leaves us pretty much in the dark
HHS has added 19 reports to its breach tool. Some of these have been previously covered on this blog, and I’ve linked to the coverage below: Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth/Shred-it Iowa Department of Human Services (affected 7,335, a fact we did not previously know) San Jose Medical Supply Co. (affected 800, a fact…
Walgreens must pay woman $1.44 million over HIPAA violation
Tim Evans reports: A Marion County jury Friday awarded a woman $1.44 million after finding Walgreens and a pharmacist violated her privacy when the pharmacist looked up and shared the woman’s prescription history. The lawsuit filed in Marion Superior Court spun out of a tangled relationship between the pharmacist, her husband and the man’s ex-girlfriend….