A Florida attorney this week filed a class action lawsuit against the Humboldt Independent Practice Association, alleging that the organization’s lax security measures allowed “an unauthorized actor” to access patients private health information.

Humboldt IPA, an organization that partners with local health care providers to process claims and provide other administrative services, issued a letter to patients earlier this month alerting them to a “data security incident,” according to the complaint. 

Plaintiff Susan Fraser represents the proposed class of more than 100 current and former patients affected by the alleged breach, which resulted in the theft of names, contact information, emails, telephone numbers, dates of birth, driver’s licenses, medical diagnoses or conditions and health insurance information, the lawsuit alleges.

“Defendant’s woefully inadequate data security measures made the Data Breach a foreseeable, and even likely, consequence of its negligence,” reads a summary of the case, which was filed by attorney Kristen Lake Cardoso with the firm of Kopelowitz Ostrow Ferguson Weiselberg Gilbert (KO), based in South Florida.

According to the suit, Humboldt IPA did not encrypt patients’ private information or delete it when it was no longer needed, and the breach puts those patients at risk of further “identity theft crimes, fraud, scams, and other misuses of their Private Information.”

Much of the complaint’s 27-page length is filled with general information about regulatory requirements, standard industry practices and the importance of keeping private information private. 

The class action suit accuses Humboldt IPA of negligence, breach of contract and unjust enrichment, and it seeks injunctive relief, a yet-to-be-determined amount of financial relief plus interest, attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses to be determined at trial.

You can read a copy of the complaint via the link below. A voice message seeking comment from Humboldt IPA was not immediately returned. We’ll update this post if the organization provides a statement or any further information. 

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