A patient in his early 30s has filed a $2.5 million lawsuit against New York City-based Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital for faxing his HIV status to his workplace, the Actors Equity Association, according to the New York Daily News.
The patient, who goes by “John Doe” in court documents, was diagnosed with HIV three years ago and sought treatment at the Institute for Advanced Medicine (formerly Spencer Cox Center for Health).
He later requested copies of his medical records, asking that they be sent to his home address or post office box.
While at work shortly thereafter, the Actors Equity Association director of operations handed Doe a copy of his medical records, which had been faxed to the office. The director of operations received them from the mail room supervisor.
The faxed documents included the patient’s HIV status and care, previous diagnoses for other STDs, sexual orientation, mental health history, prescription drug information, and history of physical abuse, according to a blog post by attorney Jeffrey Lichtman.
Lichtman added that the stress of knowing his coworkers could know about his HIV status caused the man to quit his job and lose his health insurance benefits. He thus has been unable to continue to see his therapist to cope with the anxiety.
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Lichtman’s law firm claimed it has been “forced to initiate this lawsuit” because Mount Sinai St. Luke’s has “refused to even discuss a financial settlement with [Doe] due to its unlawful actions.”
This lawsuit comes months after the hospital agreed to pay a $387,200 HIPAA fine due to the fax incident. During a subsequent investigation, the HHS Office for Civil Rights also discovered that the Spencer Cox Center for Health was responsible for a related breach that occurred nine months before the fax incident.
In a statement sent via email, Mount Sinai said:
Patient privacy and security is a top priority at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai West and we stand deeply committed to preventing any breaches. We are working with HHS to meticulously review privacy and security policies and procedures, ensuring all necessary safeguards are in place to protect patient privacy. Compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a core tenent of the work of our medical professionals; and we will continue to be vigilant and committed in our adherence to the policy.
Interestingly, this suit comes just a few weeks after a Pennsylvania man filed a class-action lawsuit against Aetna. In late July, the health insurer disclosed the HIV statuses of up to 12,000 members via a mass mailing.
Photo: panpote, Getty Images
