Mount Sinai St. Luke’s hospital is facing a $2.5 million lawsuit for negligently faxing a patient’s HIV diagnosis to his employer’s fax machine three years ago. The patient, a man in his 30s, is known in the court documents as “John Doe” and the lawsuit was brought forward by the law offices of Jeffrey Lichtman to keep the man’s identity confidential.
The hospital’s actions left the man devastated, forcing him to quit his job and lose his health insurance. According to the lawsuit, the patient had asked the hospital to mail a copy of his medical records to his post office box or his New York home.
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However, the hospital’s Spencer Cox Center kept its records separate from the general medical record department, and the patient was forced to fax a request to have his records mailed to him. Three days later, the man’s manager handed him a copy of his complete medical records, which had been sent to the mail room via fax.
The Department of Health and Human Services found that the hospital failed to appropriately safeguard the patient’s private health information and violated his rights under HIPAA. The hospital agreed to pay a $387,000 fine and implement changes to prevent similar breaches in the future.
The law firm representing the patient said it was forced to sue the hospital because the organization refused to enter settlement negotiations over the damages he suffered due to its negligence. The patient has had to discontinue seeing his therapist to cope with the stress caused by the breach, due to increased medical insurance costs at his new job.
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Mount Sinai St. Luke’s said in a statement that patient privacy and security is a top priority, and the organization is working with HHS to review and improve its privacy and security policies and procedures.
The hospital’s statement said, “We stand deeply committed to preventing any breaches. We are working with HHS to meticulously review privacy and security policies and procedures, ensuring all necessary safeguards are in place to protect patient privacy.”
The breach is the latest in a series of accidental disclosures of patients’ confidential health information by the healthcare industry. Last month, Aetna was hit with a class-action lawsuit over a similar breach, and CVS Health announced it had halted mailings that inadvertently made references to HIV visible through a window in the envelope.
The patient’s experience highlights the need for hospitals to prioritize patient privacy and take steps to prevent similar breaches in the future. The HIPAA rules are in place to protect patients’ sensitive health information, and hospitals must ensure they are complying with these regulations to avoid putting patients at risk.
For more information on HIPAA and patient privacy, visit the US Department of Health and Human Services website.
