Gopal Sathe reports:
Bengaluru — If you are the gentleman who bought Suhagra 50, a generic version of Viagra, and some Vomiford anti-nausea drops, on June 13 from a government-run Anna Sanjivini store in Anantpur in Rayalseema, your name, phone number and purchases, were listed on an Andhra Pradesh government website — until HuffPost alerted the authorities.
The link has since been taken down (you’re welcome).
Read more on Huffington Post (IN).
Kayla Webster reports:
A Sutter Health spokesman confirmed that some health system employees were fired for accessing medical information without permission, after a television station reported that two employees were let go after searching the medical records of Joseph DeAngelo, the suspected Golden State Killer.
Sutter spokesman Gary Zavoral declined to state how many employees were fired, and whose medical records they allegedly looked up.
Read more on Sacramento Business Journal.
A good reminder that technology can help entities detect inappropriate access to patient files and to address it promptly.
The identities and personal information of more than 1,000 Veterans Affairs patients were discovered during a traffic stop at the VA campus in Long Beach and a VA clerk was arrested on suspicion of identity theft, authorities said today.
[…]
A second search of the vehicle yielded private information for 1,028 VA patients, including names, dates of birth and full Social Security numbers, as well as more than $1000 worth of federal property, he said.
Read more on The Grunion.
Their press release of June 14:
Med Associates, Inc. processes claims for medical providers located in and around Albany, NY. Med Associates, Inc. is providing notice of an incident that may have involved the security of patient’s information in its care. We have no evidence that any patient information was specifically accessed or used in any way. However, we are unable to definitively rule that out, therefore, we are notifying patients regarding the data incident and steps we have taken since discovery.
What Happened? On March 22, 2018, Med Associates became aware of unusual activity relating to an employee’s workstation occurring that same day. Med Associates immediately began investigating with our IT vendor and subsequently retained a leading third-party forensic investigation firm to assist with our investigation. It was determined that the unauthorized party accessed the workstation and through that, may have had access to certain personal and protected information.
What Information was Involved? While our investigation is ongoing, we have determined that the information that may have been accessible from the workstation included patient name, date of birth, address, dates of service, diagnosis codes, procedure codes and insurance information, including insurance ID Number. There was no banking or credit card information contained on or accessible from the workstation.
What We Are Doing. The privacy and security of information in our possession is one of our highest priorities. Upon learning of this incident, we immediately secured the impacted workstation, implemented even more stringent information security standards and have increased staff training on data privacy and security.
Med Associates is also notifying patients who may be affected by this incident. In this notice, Med Associates is providing access to one (1) year of credit monitoring and identity restoration services through TransUnion at no cost to patients.
What You Can Do. Affected patients can review the notice letter they received, which contains information on what they can do to better protect against the possibility of identity theft and fraud should you feel it is appropriate to do so.
For More Information. We sincerely regret any inconvenience or concern this may have caused. Affected patients can call our dedicated assistance line at 855-206-9883, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET for more information.
SOURCE Med Associates
KRIS-TV reports:
Medical records for some patients from CHRISTUS Spohn medical centers in Corpus Christi were among the items stolen from an employee, the organization reported.
According to a press release from CHRISTUS Spohn, the incident happened back on April 16, 2018, when an employee was the victim of a burglary that led to the theft of their personal belongings.
Among those belongings were medical information for “some patients who received services” from CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial and CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Shoreline.
An official confirmed that around 1,800 patients who may have been impacted were being contacted regarding the incident.
Read more on KRIS-TV.