The former owners of a medical billing practice and four pathology groups have agreed to collectively pay $140,000 to settle allegations that medical records and patient billing information for “tens of thousands of Massachusetts patients were improperly disposed of at a public dump.” Under the settlements, the defendants have agreed to pay a total of $140,000 for civil penalties, attorneys’ fees, and a data protection fund to support efforts to improve the security and privacy of sensitive health and financial information in Massachusetts. The complaint, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, alleges that Joseph and Louise Gagnon, doing business as Goldthwait Associates, violated state data security laws when they mishandled and improperly disposed of medical records containing personal information and protected health information from four Massachusetts pathology groups at the Georgetown Transfer Station. The medical records contained information for more than 67,000 residents, including names, Social Security numbers, and medical diagnoses that were not redacted or destroyed when they were dumped. The matter came to the public’s attention in July 2010 when a Boston Globe photographer was disposing of his own trash at the dump and observed a large mound of paper which, upon closer inspection, he determined were medical records. […]
The former owners of a medical billing practice and four pathology groups have agreed to collectively pay $140,000 to settle allegations that medical records and patient billing information for “tens of thousands of Massachusetts patients were improperly disposed of at a public dump.”
Under the settlements, the defendants have agreed to pay a total of $140,000 for civil penalties, attorneys’ fees, and a data protection fund to support efforts to improve the security and privacy of sensitive health and financial information in Massachusetts.
The complaint, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, alleges that Joseph and Louise Gagnon, doing business as Goldthwait Associates, violated state data security laws when they mishandled and improperly disposed of medical records containing personal information and protected health information from four Massachusetts pathology groups at the Georgetown Transfer Station. The medical records contained information for more than 67,000 residents, including names, Social Security numbers, and medical diagnoses that were not redacted or destroyed when they were dumped.
The matter came to the public’s attention in July 2010 when a Boston Globe photographer was disposing of his own trash at the dump and observed a large mound of paper which, upon closer inspection, he determined were medical records. His discovery was first reported in the Globe shortly thereafter.
The other defendants involved in the settlement are Kevin Dole, M.D., former president of Chestnut Pathology Services, P.C. Milford Pathology Associates, P.C.; Milton Pathology Associates, P.C.; and Pioneer Valley Pathology Associates, P.C.
The AG’s office alleges that these pathology groups violated Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regulations by failing to have appropriate safeguards in place to protect the personal information they provided to Goldthwait Associates and violated state data security regulations by not taking reasonable steps to select and retain a service provider that would maintain appropriate security measures.
According to the complaint, the Gagnons ran Goldthwait Associates—which primarily provided medical billing services for pathology groups—and received sensitive medical records and billing information of clients in order to send medical bills on behalf of the groups. The Gagnons retired from Goldthwait Associates and the medical billing business in 2010.
