The
stories continue...
- Terri Seargent, a
North Carolina resident, was fired from her job after being diagnosed with a
genetic disorder that required expensive treatment. Three weeks before being
fired, Terri was given a positive review and a raise. As such, she suspected
that her employer, who is self insured, found out about her condition, and
fired her to avoid the projected expenses. (R. Weiss, "Ignorance Undercuts Gene
Tests' Potential," The Washington Post, December 2, 2000)
- The medical records
of an Illinois woman were posted on the Internet without her knowledge or
consent a few days after she was treated at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center
following complications from an abortion at the Hope Clinic for Women. The
woman has sued the hospital, alleging St. Elizabeth's released her medical
records without her authorization to anti-abortion activists, who then posted
the records online along with a photograph they had taken of her being
transferred from the clinic to the hospital. The woman is also suing the
anti-abortion activists for invading her privacy. (T. Hillig and J. Mannies,
"Woman Sues Over Posting of Abortion Details," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 3,
2001)
- The medical records
of a Maryland school board member were sent to school officials as part of a
campaign criticizing his performance. The records revealed that the member had
been treated for depression. (C. Samuels, "Allen Makes Diagnosis of Depression
Public; Medical Records Mailed Anonymously," The Washington Post, August 26,
2000)
- After suffering a
work-related injury to her wrist, Roni Breite authorized her insurance company
to release information pertaining to her wrist ailment to her employer. When
she had the opportunity to review her medical record, the file contained her
entire medical history, including records on recent fertility treatment and
pregnancy loss. (E. McCarthy, "Patients Voice Growing Concerns about Privacy,"
Sacramento Business Journal, April 5, 1999)
- A patient at Brigham
and Women's Hospital in Boston learned that employees had accessed her medical
record more than 200 times. (R. Mishra, "Confidential Medical Records Are Not
Always Private," The Boston Globe, August 1, 2000)
- An Atlanta truck
driver lost his job in early 1998 after his employer learned from his insurance
company that he had sought treatment for a drinking problem. (J. Appleby, "File
safe? Health Records May Not Be Confidential," USA Today, March 23,
2000)
- Joan Kelly, an
employee of Motorola, was automatically enrolled in a "depression program" by
her employer after her prescription drugs management company reported that she
was taking anti-depressants. (R. O'Harrow, "Plans' Access to Pharmacy Data
Raises Privacy Issue," The Washington Post, September 27,
1998)
- A South Carolina
resident was suspended at work for refusing to release her medical records to
her employer. (S. Crowley, "Invading Your Medical Privacy," AARP Bulletin,
March 2000)
- Country singer Tammy
Wynette's medical records were sold to the National Enquirer and Star tabloids
by a hospital employee for $2,610. William Cox's position at the hospital
entitled him to authorized access to several medical record databases. He
retrieved medical information about Wynette and faxed it to the tabloids
without her consent. Cox pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and was
sentenced to six months in prison. ("Selling Singer's Files Gets Man Six
Months," Houston Chronicle, December 2, 2000)
- The late tennis star
Arthur Ashe's positive HIV status was first disclosed publically not by himself
but byby a newspaper without his permission after receiving the information
from a health care worker.
- A temporary employee
of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute stole patients' personal information. The
employee allegedly used one patient's name and data to obtain $2,500 in long
distance services and other phone service. (J. Ellement, "Dana-Farber Says
Patient Data Stolen," The Boston Globe, August 8, 2000)
- A Michigan-based
health system accidentally posted the medical records of thousands of patients
on the Internet. (The Ann Arbor News, February 10, 1999)
- The Harvard Community
Health Plan, a Bostonbased HMO, admitted to maintaining detailed notes of
psychotherapy sessions in computer records that were accessible by all clinical
employees. Following a series of press reports describing the system, the HMO
revamped its computer security practices. (A. Bass, "HMO Puts Confidential
Records On-Line; Critics Say Computer File-Keeping Breaches Privacy of Mental
Health Patients," The Boston Globe, March 7, 1995)
- A banker who also
served on his county's health board cross-referenced customer accounts with
patient information. He called due the mortgages of anyone suffering from
cancer. (M. Lavelle, "Health Plan Debate Turning to Privacy: Some Call For
Safeguards on Medical Disclosure. Is a Federal Law Necessary?" The National Law
Journal, May 30, 1994)
- About 400 pages of
detailed psychological records concerning visits and diagnoses of at least 62
children and teenagers were accidentally posted on the University of Montana
Web site for eight days. In most cases, the information included names, dates
of birth and sometimes home addresses and schools attended with the results of
the psychological tests. (C. Piller, "Web Mishap: Kids' Psychological Files
Posted," Los Angeles Times, November 7, 2001)
- A hacker downloaded
medical records, health information, and social security numbers of more than
5,000 patients at the University of Washington Medical Center. The hacker
claimed to be motivated by a desire to expose the vulnerability of electronic
medical records. (R. O'Harrow, "Hacker Accesses Patients Records," The
Washington Post, December 9, 2000)
- Several thousand
patient records at the University of Michigan Medical Center inadvertently
lingered on public Internet sites for two months. The problem was discovered
when a student searching for information about a doctor was linked to files
containing private patient records with numbers, job status, treatment for
medical conditions and other data. ("Black Eye at the Medical Center," The
Washington Post, February 22, 1999)
- The medical records
of about 20 patients of Providence Alaska Medical Center were accidentally
posted on a Web site. (P. Porco, "Patients' Privacy Breached; Alaskans' Medical
Records Put on Net," Anchorage Daily News, June 4, 2000)
- Global Healthtrax,
which sells health products online, inadvertently revealed customer names, home
phone numbers, and bank account and credit card information of thousands of
customers on their Web site. (B. Sullivan, "Bank Information Exposed Online,"
MSNBC, January 19, 2000. Accessed at www.zdnet.com on January 19, 2000)
- Kaiser Permanente
mistakenly sent responses to member e-mails to the wrong recipients. The
emails, some of which contained sensitive patient information, affected 858
members who use their online services. (B. Brubaker, "Sensitive Kaiser Emails
Go Astray," The Washington Post, August 10, 2000)
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