Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Kaiser Permanente Data Breach

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According to a new class action lawsuit filed in California, a flash drive containing medical records of almost 49,000 Kaiser Permanente patients was lost, in violation of the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act.

Plaintiff Ginger Buck filed the Kaiser data breach class action lawsuit, claiming that a computer flash drive containing patients’ confidential medical information was stolen. Buck says that the compromised data includes patients’ names, medical record and hospital account numbers, diagnosis codes, billing charges and admission/discharge dates. She seeks to certify a class of all individuals who were treated at Kaiser Permanente hospitals and/or medical centers.

According to a report from the Los Angeles Times, the flash drive was reported missing from Kaiser’s nuclear medicine department on Sept. 25, 2013. While the flash drive did contain medical data, Kaiser says that the files did not include Social Security numbers or financial data.

Kaiser Permanente “is ranked as one of the nation’s biggest HMOs,” the class action lawsuit says. “Thus, it should be no surprise that when patients are treated at Kaiser’s facilities, they expect that their private medical information will be kept confidential and will not be disclosed to anyone without their authorization. Indeed, California law requires that medical providers maintain their patients’ medical information confidential and prohibits the disclosure of such information without the patient’s written authorization.”

Medical Privacy Violations

According to the Kaiser data breach class action lawsuit, Buck was treated for a medical condition at Kaiser Permanente sometime prior to January 1988, at which time she provided Kaiser with personal information. “At no time during her visit did plaintiff provide written authorization that her private medical information be disclosed,” her class action lawsuit says.

Buck alleges that her private, confidential and sensitive medical information was compromised when the flash drive was stolen. Buck claims Kaiser violated its legal duty to protect the confidential data stored on the flash drive.

The class action lawsuit alleges that Kaiser violated the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, which prohibits health care providers from disclosing their patients’ medical information without first obtaining written authorization from the patient. Under this law, affected patients are entitled to statutory damages of $1,000.

Buck believes that a class action lawsuit is the best method to resolve the controversy due to the large number of potential Class Members. “The expense and burden of individual litigation would make it impracticable or impossible for proposed class members to prosecute their claims individually,” the class action lawsuit says. “Unless a class is certified, Defendants will remain free to continue to engage in the wrongful conduct alleged herein without consequence.”

Buck is represented by Byron T. Ball of the Ball Law Firm LLP.

The Kaiser Permanente Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit is Ginger Buck, et al. v. Kaiser Permanente International, Case No. BC531253, in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles, Central District.

Help for Victims of Medical Privacy Violations

If you’re a California resident and received notice that your personal information may have been compromised by a hospital data breach, you may be able to take legal action. Learn more and join a free class action lawsuit investigation against the company by visiting the Calif. Hospital Data Breach, Medical Privacy Violations Class Action Lawsuit Investigation.