A mix-up at a Merritt Island, Fla.-based physician's office led to confidential, unshredded billing files being dumped in a nearby landfill, according to Florida Today.
A person photographed what she described as a "truckload" of records at the landfill and posted the photos on social media. Some billing records were still in box containers, while others were spilled out. A physician's information and a list of diagnoses for an unidentified patient were found on one of the documents, raising concerns about privacy issues.
Leon Cohen, MD, the family practice physician operating in the office, said a third-party mistake was to blame for the dumping. Dr. Cohen said the documents have been removed.
"These were old billing records that were in a storage room," Dr. Cohen told Florida Today. "What I can tell you is that I was out of town last week. I arranged to have them removed, and they took a couple of boxes that contained old medical bills, not records. But they have since been retrieved."
Dr. Cohen said his office's medical records are stored electronically.
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