Clinical Pathology Labs, Others Reportedly Affected by AMCA Data Breach

Clinical Pathology Labs was reportedly one of many care providers affected by the AMCA data breach that compromised millions of patients’ info.

The data breach reportedly originated in the American Medical Collection Agency (AMCA) system. AMCA reportedly received collections from various laboratories and medical providers which they then collected payments on.

In June 2019, Quest Diagnostics disclosed that some of their consumers may have had their information compromised when an “unauthorized user” accessed AMCA’s system. The user reportedly had access to the systems from Aug. 1, 2018 to Mar. 30, 2019.

In order to mitigate the consequences of the data breach, AMCA reportedly “hired a third-party external forensics firm to investigate any potential security breach in [its] systems, migrated [its] web payments portal services to a third-party vendor, and retained additional experts to advise on, and implement, steps to increase [its] systems’ security.”

Since Quest Diagnostics announced their involvement in the AMCA data breach, several other companies such as LabCorp have also been implicated. According to Advisory Board, the following companies were involved in the breach:

• American Esoteric Laboratories
• Arizona Dermatopathology
• Austin Pathology Associates
• BioReference Laboratories/Opko Health
• Carecentrix
• CBLPath
• Clinical Pathology Labs
• CompuNet Clinical Laboratories
• Inform Diagnostics
• LabCorp
• Laboratory Medicine Consultants
• Laboratory of Dermatology ADX
• Natera;
• Pathology Solutions
• Penobscot Community Health Center
• Seacoast Pathology
• South Texas Dermatopathology
• Sunrise Medical Laboratories
• Quest Diagnostics/Optum360
• Western Pathology Consultants
• West Hills Hospital and Medical Center/United WestLabs

In total, 24.4 million patients from these 21 companies may have had their information compromised in the data breach. Financial information (credit card numbers, bank account information, balance information), medical data (dates of service, health care providers), and personal information (Social Security numbers, dates of birth, names, phone numbers) may have been accessed by the hackers.

Consumers have allegedly already started to see the side effects of the medical data breach. In June 2019, USA Today reported on consumer Florian W. who claimed to be “99 percent sure” that his family’s medical records and financial information was stolen as a part of the data breach. This sensitive information could reportedly be used to perpetuate fraudulent schemes and take advantage of consumers.

Following the massive data breach, AMCA’s parent company Retrieval-Masters Creditors Bureau reportedly filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company reportedly sought to liquidate its $10 million of assets and liabilities after a “cascade of events” lead to “enormous expenses that were beyond the ability of the debtor to bear.”

Some of these expenses reportedly include $400,000 in IT professional and consulting services following the breach and $3.8 million spent on mailing out data breach notices to over seven million individual victims. Even with Retrieval-Masters Creditor Bureau CEO Russell Fuchs lending $2.5 million to the company to help with these mailings, the expenses were reportedly insurmountable.

Other costs could arise as well, as consumers who received a notification saying that they were affected or those who were in collections with AMCA may file lawsuits for damages done.

Clinical Pathology Labs: Overview

Clinical Pathology Labs
reportedly employs almost 2,000 employees at their primary lab with even more people working at their regional laboratories. For over 70 years, the Texas-based laboratory has reportedly offered “the highest quality laboratory services dedicated to the individual needs of practitioners and their patients.”

Join a Free AMCA Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you are a patient at LabCorp, Quest or another lab and you received notice that you were affected by the AMCA data breach, you may qualify to join this data breach class action lawsuit investigation.

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