Northwell Health class action alleges data breach affected almost 4M individuals

Northwell Health class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: Plaintiffs David Mayo and Madeleine E. Schwartz filed a class action lawsuit against Northwell Health Inc. and medical vendor Perry Johnson & Associates.
• Why: The defendants allegedly failed to adequately safeguard patients’ sensitive personal and health data, leaving it vulnerable to a data breach that affected nearly 4 million individuals.
• Where: The Northwell Health data breach class action lawsuit was filed in New York federal court.

New York’s largest health system is facing a class action lawsuit after a data breach allegedly compromised the data of nearly 4 million individuals.

Plaintiffs David Mayo and Madeleine E. Schwartz filed the data breach class action lawsuit against Northwell Health Inc. and medical vendor Perry Johnson & Associates after the health system reported they learned cybercriminals potentially breached PJ&A’s network from March 27 to May 2.

Information allegedly compromised in the Northwell Health data breach may have included names, birthdates, Social Security numbers, addresses, medical record numbers, hospital account numbers, admission diagnoses, and times and dates of service.

Northwell Health class action says defendants failed to adequately safeguard sensitive data

Mayo and Schwartz allege Northwell Health and PJ&A failed to adequately safeguard patients’ sensitive information, leaving it vulnerable to cybercriminals. They say the defendants knew that data security measures were particularly important given the significant rise in the number of data breaches in the healthcare industry.

Personally identifiable information and personal health information is particularly valuable to cybercriminals, the plaintiffs explain. This sensitive information can be sold on the dark web at a price ranging from $40 to $200, and entire data breach access can allegedly be purchased for $900 to $4,500, the Northwell Health class action lawsuit says.

Although the Northwell Health data breach reportedly took place in the spring, the defendants failed to notify potential victims until Nov. 3, more than six months after they learned about the breach, the plaintiffs say.

The plaintiffs say they have “suffered imminent and impending injury arising from the present and ongoing risk of fraud, identity theft and misuse” of their sensitive data.

They filed the Northwell Health class action lawsuit on behalf of themselves and others whose information was compromised in the Northwell Health data breach.

Recently, Health Net and other defendants agreed to pay $10 million to settle a data breach class action lawsuit.

Were you affected by the Northwell Health data breach? Tell us your story in the comments.

Mayo and Schwartz are represented by Jason P. Sultzer and Philip J. Furia of The Sultzer Law Group PC, Jeffrey K. Brown and Andrew Costello of Leeds Brown Law PC, Charles E. Schaffer and Nicholas J. Elia of Levin Sedran & Berman LLP and Jeffrey S. Goldenberg and Todd B Naylor of Goldenberg Schneider LPA.

The Northwell Health data breach class action lawsuit is David Mayo, et al. v. Northwell Health Inc., et al., Case No. 2:23-cv-08517, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

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