Laurie Napper, a former medical technician at Howard University Hospital, was sentenced today to six months in a halfway house and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service on a federal charge stemming from the sale of personal information about patients, along with blank prescription forms, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. and…
Category: Health Data
Ah, less-than-sweet mysteries of life: when you can’t figure out if or how you were breached
How frustrating for everyone: St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore learned that 40 of its physicians had become victims of ID theft. Hapless victims had their names and Social Security numbers used to create wireless telephone accounts that they knew nothing about until they started receiving overdue notices from creditors. But despite its best efforts to…
HHS updates breach tool (update 3)
HHS added 10 incidents to its breach tool in its most recent update. Somewhat depressingly, five of the incidents involved the theft of unencrypted laptops. In terms of newly revealed details on known incidents, the University of Miami reported that it had notified 64, 846 patients of the insider breach involving theft and possible sale of…
Hearing scheduled in Sutter data breach class action
Kathy Roberton reports: A hearing is scheduled in Sacramento on Sept. 27 on a class action against Sutter Health over last year’s theft of a personal computer that held data on 4.24 million patients. Twelve lawsuits filed over the incident have been coordinated in Sacramento County Superior Court. Read more on Sacramento Business Journal. The Sutter Health…
Blue Cross Blue Shield discloses employee data breach
Julie M. Donnelly reports: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts has disclosed that a contracted vendor compromised an employee’s data at the state’s largest health insurer. The health plan said its cyber-security systems were not breached, no medical information was involved,and no health plan members’ personal information was compromised. The health plan issued a statement…
Medical Data Breach Highlights Need For Encryption
Michelle McNickle reports: The recent data breach at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Associates once again screams the message: Encryption, encryption, encryption!The provider has agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine to theDepartment of Health and Human Services (HHS), after allegations were made that Mass. Eye and Ear failed to…