Several health systems have faced lawsuits regarding data breach incidents.
Here are four lawsuits as reported by Becker's during July.
- A class-action lawsuit was filed against Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare and its affiliate, San Antonio, Texas-based Baptist Health System, over an April data breach that has affected 1.2 million patients. The lawsuit alleges that the health companies were negligent in protecting patient health information and failed to properly notify patients of the data breach.
- St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit to resolve allegations that its poor cybersecurity led to a May 2020 phishing attack that compromised sensitive patient data. The health system said it would spend $2.7 million to implement multifactor authentication for email access to reduce phishing attacks.
- Gary, Ind.-based Methodist Hospitals has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit for $425,000 following a June 2019 phishing attack that compromised protected health information. The health system denied any wrongdoing, but settled the lawsuit to avoid further legal costs and the uncertainty of trial.
- Plymouth, Mass.-based Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital and human resources management company Ultimate Kronos Group were sued for a December 2021 ransomware attack that compromised patients' protected health information and a number of health system. The lawsuit, filed by a former Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital employee, alleges that due the ransomware attack on the Kronos Private Cloud, she was not paid for the full amount of time she worked.