Questions Remain Regarding Calif. Hospital Data Breach

Police investigations have continued following the arrest of Christopher Lee Brown, a suspect in the theft of laptops containing patients’ personal information from a number of AHMC Healthcare facilities. However, it is still unclear whether or not that information has been leaked to nefarious characters or is available through other sources.

Back in October, two laptops were removed by an unknown person from an office that AHMC officials say was in a gated facility, and there have been no reported indictments of Brown or any other individuals. However, the healthcare company later admitted that the laptops included the records of hundreds of thousands of people who had been treated at one of those hospitals and data could include the name, date of birth and insurance information. Medical privacy lawyers have launched an investigation into whether or not AHMC properly secured this information.

Along with the AHMC Healthcare breach, it is unclear what other security precautions had been put in place regarding the medical records. According to recent news reports, the laptops had been password-protected. Even so, a detective told a reporter from Southern California Public Radio, “It’s unclear if [a thief] has even been able to open up and look at the data that’s on the computer, but there is a lot of medical records and medical information that is on the two computers.”

Still, there are laws that govern patient privacy in California and whether or not AHMC met those standards is a legal question. Patients should be wary if they were treated at any of the following facilities as they may be at risk for identity theft:

• Garfield Medical Center
• Monterey Park Hospital
• Greater El Monte Community Hospital
• Whittier Hospital Medical Center
• San Gabriel Valley Medical Center
• Anaheim Regional Medical Center

Learn More About Your Patient Privacy Rights

You may be entitled to seek damages from these healthcare facilities if your personal information was improperly secured based on California state standards for identity theft. In California alone, millions of records have been lost or stolen because of the ease of removing computers and tablets.

If you were treated at any one of the above facilities, you can submit your information for a free legal consultation with one of our partner medical privacy lawyers at the Calif. Hospital Data Breach, Medical Privacy Violations Class Action Lawsuit Investigation today. Any award or monetary compensation can help offset the costs of personal credit monitoring or any other needs caused by the data breach.