Search Privacy Violations, Breaches and Complaints
This database was last updated in December 2015 ago and should only be used as a historical snapshot. More recent data on breaches affecting 500 or more people is available at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Breach Portal.
VA NY/NJ Veterans Healthcare Network (VISN 3)
Mentioned in a privacy incident report created by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on March 1, 2011. Also cited in 59 other reports.
Report ID: SPE000000058937, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Reported Entity: VISN 03 Bronx, NY
Issue:
A research article was published in the pharmacy journal. This article included the start and end date that the patient was on Methadone, the dosage and date of death. We were able to run a fileman in VISTA by using the date of death and found out other information on the patient. Update: 03/09/11:The article involved seven Veterans. It included lab readings, treatment notes and other PHI. All seven Veterans, or their next of kin will be sent letters of notification.
Outcome:
All staff were retrained on what information can be included in an article. They were given all the fact sheets and handbook on what is considered de-identified data. They were also instructed that they must contact the privacy officer for clearance before sending out any article.