Welcome to the Nexus of Ethics, Psychology, Morality, Philosophy and Health Care

Welcome to the nexus of ethics, psychology, morality, technology, health care, and philosophy
Showing posts with label Data Theft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Data Theft. Show all posts

Friday, January 6, 2017

‘Dear plagiarist’: A scientist calls out his double-crosser

By Adam Marcus and Ivan Oransky
STAT News
Originally published December 12, 2016

It’s a researcher’s worst nightmare: Pour five years, and at least 4,000 hours, of sweat and tears into a study, only to have the work stolen from you — by someone who was entrusted to confidentially review the manuscript.

But unlike many sordid tales of academia, this one is being made public. Dr. Michael Dansinger, of Tufts Medical Center, has taken to print to excoriate a group of researchers in Italy who stole his data and published it as their own.

Writing in the prestigious Annals of Internal Medicine — which unwittingly facilitated the episode by farming the paper out for review and then rejecting it — Dansinger calls out the scientists who published their nearly identical version in the somewhat less prestigious EXCLI Journal.

The article is here.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Millions of electronic medical records breached

New U.S. government data shows that 32 million residents affected since 2009.

By Ronald Campbell and Deborah Schoch
The Oregon Country Register
Published: July 7, 2014

Thieves, hackers and careless workers have breached the medical privacy of nearly 32 million Americans, including 4.6 million Californians, since 2009.

Those numbers, taken from new U.S. Health & Human Services Department data, underscore a vulnerability of electronic health records.

These records are more detailed than most consumer credit or banking files and could open the door to widespread identity theft, fraud, or worse.

The entire article is here.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Health records lost, stolen or revealed online

Health privacy problems persist a decade after law went into effect to protect patients

By Deborah Shelton
Chicago Tribune Reporter
Originally published April 23, 2012

Almost a decade after a new law went into effect to strengthen health privacy protections, the number of breaches of patient records and databases across the U.S. suggests that personal health information is not as private or secure as many consumers might want or expect.

Since fall 2009, more than 400 large health care breaches affecting at least 500 people and more than 50,000 smaller breaches have been reported to the federal government.

One of the largest unauthorized disclosures in recent history of medical records and other private information happened in September, when computer tapes were stolen that contained data on almost 5 million people enrolled in TRICARE, the nation's health program for military members, their families and retirees.

University Breach Settlement Approved

2 Years of Credit Monitoring Services Required

By Jeffrey Roman
Data Breach Today
Originally published April 18, 2012

A court has granted final approval of the settlement of a class action lawsuit against University of Hawaii stemming from five data breaches over a three-year period that affected nearly 96,000 individuals.

The settlement will provide those affected with two years of free credit monitoring and credit restoration services, according to a statement from the university. The settlement affects students, faculty, alumni, university employees and others whose data was exposed in the five breaches from 2009 to 2011.

The entire story is here.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

$1B suit filed against Sutter Health over data breach

By Bernie Monegain, Editor
HealthcareITNews

The theft of a computer during a break-in in October has spurred a $1B class action lawsuit against Sutter Health, according to a report published today by the Sacramento Bee. The computer contained data on more than 4 million patients.

The suit was filed Nov. 21 in Sacramento Superior Court.

In a news release posted online by the Sacramento-based health system on Nov. 16, Sutter officials detailed the findings of its investigation into the theft and offered an apology.

“Sutter Health holds the confidentiality and trust of our patients in the highest regard, and we deeply regret that this incident has occurred,” said Sutter Health President and CEO Pat Fry. “The Sutter Health Data Security Office was in the process of encrypting computers throughout our system when the theft occurred, and we have accelerated these efforts.”

Sutter Physicians Services (SPS) and Sutter Medical Foundation (SMF) – two affiliates within the Sutter Health network of care – announced the theft of a company-issued password-protected unencrypted desktop computer from SMF’s administrative offices in Sacramento the weekend of Oct. 15, 2011.

The story is here.