and/or www.mantra.com/jai (Dr. Jai Maharaj)
2013-05-15 19:31:11 UTC
IRS faces class action lawsuit over theft of 60 million
medical records
California HIPAA-covered entity sues big time
Healthcare IT News
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
San Diego - The Internal Revenue Service is now facing a
class action lawsuit over allegations that it improperly
accessed and stole the health records of some 10 million
Americans, including medical records of all California
state judges.
According to a report by Courthousenews.com, an unnamed
HIPAA-covered entity in California is suing the IRS,
alleging that some 60 million medical records from 10
million patients were stolen by 15 IRS agents. The
personal health information seized on March 11, 2011,
included psychological counseling, gynecological
counseling, sexual/drug treatment and other medical
treatment data.
"This is an action involving the corruption and abuse of
power by several Internal Revenue Service agents," the
complaint reads. "No search warrant authorized the
seizure of these records; no subpoena authorized the
seizure of these records; none of the 10,000,000
Americans were under any kind of known criminal or civil
investigation and their medical records had no relevance
whatsoever to the IRS search. IT personnel at the scene,
a HIPPA facility warning on the building and the IT
portion of the searched premises, and the company
executives each warned the IRS agents of these privileged
records," it continued.
According to the case, the IRS agents had a search
warrant for financial data pertaining to a former
employee of the John Doe company, however, "it did not
authorize any seizure of any healthcare or medical record
of any persons, least of all third parties completely
unrelated to the matter," the complaint read.
The class action lawsuit against the IRS seeks $25,000 in
compensatory damages "per violation per individual" in
addition to punitive damages for constitutional
violations. Thus, compensatory damages could start at a
minimum of $250 billion.
This story will be updated.
More at:
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/irs-face-lawsuit-over-theft-60-million-patient-health-records
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj
medical records
California HIPAA-covered entity sues big time
Healthcare IT News
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
San Diego - The Internal Revenue Service is now facing a
class action lawsuit over allegations that it improperly
accessed and stole the health records of some 10 million
Americans, including medical records of all California
state judges.
According to a report by Courthousenews.com, an unnamed
HIPAA-covered entity in California is suing the IRS,
alleging that some 60 million medical records from 10
million patients were stolen by 15 IRS agents. The
personal health information seized on March 11, 2011,
included psychological counseling, gynecological
counseling, sexual/drug treatment and other medical
treatment data.
"This is an action involving the corruption and abuse of
power by several Internal Revenue Service agents," the
complaint reads. "No search warrant authorized the
seizure of these records; no subpoena authorized the
seizure of these records; none of the 10,000,000
Americans were under any kind of known criminal or civil
investigation and their medical records had no relevance
whatsoever to the IRS search. IT personnel at the scene,
a HIPPA facility warning on the building and the IT
portion of the searched premises, and the company
executives each warned the IRS agents of these privileged
records," it continued.
According to the case, the IRS agents had a search
warrant for financial data pertaining to a former
employee of the John Doe company, however, "it did not
authorize any seizure of any healthcare or medical record
of any persons, least of all third parties completely
unrelated to the matter," the complaint read.
The class action lawsuit against the IRS seeks $25,000 in
compensatory damages "per violation per individual" in
addition to punitive damages for constitutional
violations. Thus, compensatory damages could start at a
minimum of $250 billion.
This story will be updated.
More at:
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/irs-face-lawsuit-over-theft-60-million-patient-health-records
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fan.jai-maharaj
