Tampa General Hospital Sued Over 1.3 Million Record Data Breach
Tampa General Hospital (TGH) is being sued over a data breach in which hackers gained access to the sensitive data of up to 1.3 million patients. The data breach, one of the largest healthcare data breaches to be experienced in Florida, prompted Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) to write to the FBI and request the investigation of the incident be prioritized to bring the perpetrators to justice.
TGH said the breach investigation confirmed that hackers had access to its network between May 12, and May 30, 2023, and exfiltrated files containing patient information. Those files included names, contact information, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and health insurance information. The security breach was detected on May 31, 2023. The lawsuit was filed by the law firm Morgan & Morgan and alleges TGH failed to implement appropriate security measures to safeguard the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of patients’ protected health information, and as a result of TGH’s “cavalier attitude toward cybersecurity and patient privacy,” hackers were able to steal highly sensitive patient information. The lawsuit also takes issue with the time taken to detect the breach and alert patients. Hackers had access to the network for 19 days prior to detection and TGH waited until July 19, 2023, to issue notifications to the affected individuals.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three plaintiffs and other individuals similarly affected by the data breach. The plaintiffs have chosen to remain anonymous and one of the plaintiffs claims to have already fallen victim to identity theft as a result of the data breach. The lawsuit also points out that this is not the first data breach to have occurred at TGH. TGH experienced a data breach in 2014 which was reported to the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights as an unauthorized electronic medical record access incident affecting 675 patients.
The lawsuit alleges negligence, invasion of privacy, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of confidence and seeks damages, restitution, and injunctive relief. The law firm issued a statement about the lawsuit, which was recently filed in Hillsborough County. “It is our hope that this lawsuit will not only secure justice and accountability for the patients whose privacy and peace of mind have been irrevocably violated, but also will spur Tampa General Hospital to take additional steps to protect their patients’ privacy in a manner appropriate for the current climate of cyber-attacks.”
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