An unnamed patient and their legal guardian have filed a proposed class action lawsuit against a North Carolina radiology practice, accusing it of failing to protect sensitive patient information.
Plaintiff “J.L.,” a minor, and guardian Heisha Lynch first filed the complaint against Eastern Radiologists Inc. on March 14. The Greenville, North Carolina-based practice suffered a cyberattack in November and contacted patients about the issue on March 4.
Lynch and attorneys are accusing Eastern Radiologists of failing to implement the proper protections that would have kept hackers from capturing nearly 890,000 patients’ data.
“Because ERI stored and handled plaintiffs’ and class members’ highly sensitive private information, it had a duty and obligation to safeguard this information and prevent unauthorized third parties from accessing this data,” attorneys wrote in the complaint, filed with a U.S. district court. “Ultimately, ERI failed to fulfill this obligation, as unauthorized cybercriminals breached ERI’s information systems and databases and stole vast quantities of private information belonging to ERI’s patients, including plaintiffs and class members. The data breach—and the successful exfiltration of private information—were the direct, proximate, and foreseeable results of multiple failings on the part of ERI.”
An Eastern Radiologists representative declined to comment Monday while noting that the practice had not yet been served with the complaint. ERI issued a notice about the security incident, revealing that cyberattackers may have obtained Social Security numbers and other protected patient information during the incident.
“We have and will continue to take steps to enhance the security of our computer systems and the data we maintain,” the notice stated. “To help prevent something like this from happening again, we have enhanced our network monitoring capabilities and will continue to assess and supplement our security controls going forward.”
Following the attack, plaintiffs have allegedly suffered losses including diminished value of their private information, out-of-pocket costs for mitigating the data theft, and time wasted on investigating the matter. Attorneys estimate that damages from the incident exceed $5 million.
Law firms Tharrington Smith LLP and Cafferty Clobes Meriwether & Sprengel LLP are representing the plaintiffs. Other attorney groups such as Edelson Lechtzin LLP also have issued news announcements, seeking patients to join the proposed class action suit.
“… Defendant has acted with malice and oppression and in conscious disregard of plaintiffs’ and class members’ rights to have such information kept confidential and private, in failing to provide adequate notice, and in placing its own economic, corporate and legal interests above the privacy interests of its millions of patients,” the complaint alleges. “Plaintiffs, therefore, seek an award of damages, including punitive damages, on behalf of themselves and the class.”
Eastern Radiologists serves patients across North Carolina, with offices in Greenville, Washington and Kinston. The practice has been around for decades, employing 70-plus radiologists and serving the imaging needs of 17 hospitals and seven outpatient facilities.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.