Scripps Health Faces 4 Class Action Lawsuits Over Data Breach

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

San Diego-based Scripps Health has been hit with another two class action lawsuits, on top of two that were already filed, alleging the company failed to protect patient data after a ransomware attack on the company.

In May, around 147,000 patients had their data stolen during a month-long attack that took the healthcare company offline, The San Diego Union Tribune reported.

The stolen information included Social Security and driver’s license numbers, addresses, dates of birth, health insurance information, medical record numbers, patient account numbers, and clinical information such as physicians’ names, dates of service or treatment.

Scripps Health has said that only around 3,700 patients had their Social Security and/or driver’s license numbers compromised, and no sensitive medical record information — including digital X-ray images and doctor’s notes — was accessed.

The first new case was filed by San Diego County residents Michael Rubenstein and Richard Machado, and the second was filed by local resident Kate Rasmuzzen. The previous cases were filed by Kenneth Garcia and Johnny Corning, according to the Union-Tribune.

Rubenstein, who according to the first class action lawsuit has a diagnosis of primary polycythemia — also called myelofibrosis due to his advanced condition — , says in the lawsuit that the data breach left him unable to access his medical records and made the management of his diagnosis extremely difficult.

He says in the claim that he “was forced to visit a Scripps Health hematology clinic and beg a nurse to provide for him his lab orders” and that he “was unable to confirm whether the timing of particular doses was correct.”

Machado says in the class action lawsuit that he was very concerned that a “very personal surgery” he underwent, connected to his status as a Type 2 diabetes patient, would be exposed through his medical records.

According to the Union-Tribune , the Rasmuzzen, Corning, and Garcia class action lawsuits list fewer specific health care consequences, instead focusing on costs and damages caused by the data breach.

All four claims allege that Scripps Health failed to protect patient information, and has put them at risk of identity theft and medical fraud. Each lawsuit is seeking at least $1,000 per violation and other costs.

Earlier this month, Navicent Health reached a settlement with consumers over a 2018 data breach. The class action lawsuit claimed Navicent Health was responsible for the data breach and accused the company of negligence, breach of contract, and other wrongdoing. Class Members may seek up to $2,500 in compensation for extraordinary unreimbursed monetary losses due to their information being compromised.

Have you ever had your personal information accessed in a data breach? What did you do? Let us know in the comments section!

The plaintiffs are represented by Bibianne U. Fell of Fell Law PC; William B. Federman of Federman & Sherwood; and Scott Edward Cole and Laura Grace Van Note of Scott Cole & Associates APC.The New Scripps Health Data Breach Class Action Lawsuits are Rasmuzzen v. Scripps Health, Case No. 3:21-cv-01143, and Rubenstein and Machado v. Scripps Health, Case No. 3:21-cv-01135, both in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• BREAKING: Accellion Data Breach Caused by Hackers Exploiting Old Software, Says Class Action Lawsuit
• Waste Management Inc Data Breach Exposed 45K Workers to Cybercrime, Claims Class Action Lawsuit
• Do You Qualify: Hospital and Medical Clinic Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit Claim Review
• Netgain Exposed ‘Highly Sensitive’ Medical Data to Hackers, Class Action Lawsuit Alleges