Molly Hennessy-Fiske reports on the latest developments in a battle between the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and the Adult Industry Medical (AIM) HealthCare Foundation, a Los Angeles area HIV testing clinic funded by and serving the adult film industry. The dispute pits privacy against public health concerns that unprotected sex in the adult porn industry…
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Data breach in 2005 fueled a long-running massive Medicare fraud scheme
An indictment unveiled in New York today concerning a huge Medicare fraud scheme reveals how both medical professionals and patients may have their identities stolen in furtherance of fraud. And in this case, a data breach years ago provided much of the identity information needed. William K. Rashbaum and Michael Wilson report: An Armenian-American crime…
Is computing healthcare data breach statistics a waste of time?
Over on Technology Liberation Front, Jim Harper responded to my post that asked what can we learn from the first year of HHS breach reports. He starts by taking me to task for seemingly glossing over what he sees as important considerations: …. The post gives extremely light treatment to the possibility—indeed, the likelihood—of noncompliance…
'Scrapers' Dig Deep for Data on Web
Julia Angwin and Steve Stecklow report: At 1 a.m. on May 7, the website PatientsLikeMe.com noticed suspicious activity on its “Mood” discussion board. There, people exchange highly personal stories about their emotional disorders, ranging from bipolar disease to a desire to cut themselves. It was a break-in. A new member of the site, using sophisticated…
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba web site compromised
The College of Physicians and Surgeons sent a warning letter to its members Monday about an on-line attack that resulted in unauthorized access to the password-protected section of its website. “We sincerely apologize for this potential breach of your privacy and any harm it may cause you,” the letter sent by registrar Dr. Bill Pope…
Prescription for fraud: stealing professionals' identities
When we talk about ID theft in the healthcare sector, we usually think of patients’ identities being stolen. Occasionally, though, I’ve seen reports where providers’ identities were stolen to further some other scheme such as obtaining prescription medications or insurance fraud. The National Post in Canada has this story about how common this latter type…