A federal court granted approval Oct. 25 to Quest Diagnostics to settle a class-action lawsuit that stemmed from a 2016 data breach for $195,000, according to GovInfoSecurity.com.
In November 2016, around 34,000 individuals may have had their protected health information exposed after an unauthorized third party gained access to the lab testing company's web application.
The lawsuit against Quest Diagnostics claimed the company failed to safeguard customers' protected health information, including lab test results and personal identifying information such as names, dates of birth and phone numbers. Additionally, Quest Diagnostic allegedly did not provide "timely, accurate and adequate notice to plaintiffs and other class members that their private information had been stolen," according to the suit and cited by GovInfoSecurity.com.
Quest Diagnostic said that although the company "continues to believe that the claims brought by the plaintiffs are meritless, the company decided to resolve the issue now to avoid protracted litigation and associated costs," reports GovInfoSecurity.com.