Quest Patient Says Companies Should Have Done More To Prevent AMCA Data Breach

A class action lawsuit says that Quest Diagnostics, Optum360 Services Inc., American Medical Collection Agency (AMCA), and Quest Technology Management should have done more to protect customers’ private information from an AMCA data breach.

The Quest data breach was filed by Misty Marler who says that she is a customers of Quest Diagnostics, a clinical laboratory that provides diagnostic testing for hospitals and clinics around the world.

Marler says that Quest contracts with American Medical Collection Agency, and provides Quest with patient information. Allegedly, AMCA suffered a data breach between August 1, 2018 and March 30, 2019, in which unauthorized parties had access to the personal identifying information of many patients.

Data Breach Details

According to Fierce Healthcare, the breach was reportedly caused by malicious activity on the web payment page of AMCA. 

Allegedly, AMCA provides services to Optum360, which provides payment services to Quest Diagnostics. Allegedly, patient information of Marler and many other patients was shared with AMCA, Optum360, and Quest, without the patients’ knowledge.

Marler goes on to say that AMCA informed Optum360 and Quest of the data breach on May 14, 2019. She says that Quest waited over two weeks to let affected patients know that their information had been compromised in the AMCA data breach.

Marler also claims that AMCA first learned of the data breach on or around March 30, 2019, but waited more than three months to notify consumers.

USA Today reports that the AMCA data breach class action lawsuit claims almost 12 million people sought out or paid for diagnostic testing through Quest while their data was vulnerable to fraud and identity theft — a period of almost one year.

USA Today says that Quest confirmed on Monday that up to 12 million patients may have been affected by the data breach. 

AMCA Class Action

Quest, Optum360, and AMCA are alleged of not using sufficient security measures to protect customers’ data from theft.

Marler asserts that she and other consumers were injured by the companies’ insufficient approach to the data breach in the following ways:

• “Adding to their already heightened financial obligations by placing them at increased risk of fraudulent charges,
• Complicating diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment for their severe medical condition by placing them at increased risk of having inaccurate medical information in their files
• Increasing the risk of other potential personal, professional, or financial harms that could be caused as a result of having their PII/PHI exposed”

Allegedly, customers whose data was exposed are at an increased risk of a range of financial harm including identity theft, as well as emotional harm.

According to the diagnostic testing data breach class action lawsuit, the companies knew or should have known that personal identification information was highly prized for fraud and identify theft, and should have taken steps to ensure that customer information was secure.

Additionally, the data breach class action lawsuit says that because data breaches have been widely publicized in the news, the companies should have taken proactive measures to protect customer information, informed by the experience of other companies.

The Quest Diagnostics Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit is Misty Marler v. Quest Diagnostics Inc. et al., Case No. 8:19-cv-01091, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

The TCA AMCA Data Breach Investigation is now open! If you were a patient at LabCorp, Quest, or another lab, and received notice that you were affected, submit your information here.

Join a Free Quest Diagnostics Data Breach Lawsuit Investigation

If you are a Quest Diagnostics patient and you received bills from AMCA, you may qualify to join this Quest Diagnostics data breach class action lawsuit investigation.

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This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.