Class-Action Lawsuit Filed Over Los Angeles County Data Breach

A patient whose personal information was contained on a computer stolen from a Los Angeles County health department contractor has filed a class-action lawsuit against both the contractor and the county itself.

On Feb. 5, Sutherland Healthcare Solutions, which handles billing and collections for Los Angeles County's Department of Health Services and Department of Public Health, was burglarized and eight computers were stolen. The stolen computers contained the personal health and billing data for as many as 168,500 patients.

Two Los Angeles law firms have filed a complaint in Superior Court alleging Sutherland Healthcare failed to encrypt the data stored on the stolen computers, the company did not notify patients of the data breach in a timely fashion and the relief the company has offered to affected patients is insufficient, according to a Los Angeles Times report. The complaint was originally filed on behalf of one affected patient and is now seeking class-action status, according to the report.

The lawsuit seeks to require Sutherland and Los Angeles County to pay for additional credit repair services, identity theft insurance, home security systems and other costs for the patients whose data was taken, according to the report.

More Articles on Data Breaches:

Valley View Hospital Hacked, 5,400 Patients' Information Compromised 
Palo Verde Hospital Warns Patients of Data Breach 
Detroit Medical Center Notifies Patients of Data Breach