Tammy Worth reports on HIPAA-related privacy breaches and one lawyer’s experience representing plaintiffs. There are some interesting points and examples in the articles as to what awards or settlements make been. As examples: A woman in St. Louis, Missouri, whose mental health records were released to her ex-husband during custody suit settled a case for $385,000. In that case, the exs attorney subpoenaed the records and, without notifying the patient, the hospital mailed the records to the attorney. In a vitrine in Alabama, a jury awarded $300,000 after a physician accessed a womans drug account from the states prescription monitoring program. The charwoman was in a custody battle with her ex-husband, and his current wife asked the dr. to retrieve the records. The plaintiff sued the hospital for failing to bailiwick the doctor after notification of the breach. record more on Renal and Urology News. So here’s a news report from today that might track to a patient wanting to sue an entity for a HIPAA breach. But is this a case that a lawyer should take or that would be likely to conduct to a settlement: UMC launches probe after confidential patient records were mistakenly presumption to wrong family According to the news story, University medical heart in El Paso, Texas sent the damage patient’s records to another patient who had requested their records. It’s a mistake, right? But is there harm or injury or anything that would justify any kind of suit or settlement? What would influence your opinion? What if the records accidentally released involved a very stigmatizing medical condition or prognosis? Would that puddle a difference? And no, i am not trying to encourage lawsuits. I am trying to get us all to think about what matters to us when we cogitate of harm or harm and compensating people for breaches – whether they should be compensated monetarily at all, and if so, on what basis?
