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.
Northwest Network (VISN 20)
Mentioned in a privacy incident report created by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on August 13, 2012. Also cited in 208 other reports.
Report ID: SPE000000079098, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Reported Entity: VISN 20 Seattle, WA
Issue:
Patient A was recently discharged from the domiciliary. When discharged, he was mistakenly given a bag of medications that belonged to Patient B. Both patients have the same last name. The bag of medications were brought in by Patient B at the time of his admission to the domiciliary. The pharmacist contacted Patient A and he replied he would come into the pharmacy to return the bag. At the present time, he has not returned the medications. The information in the bag included Patient B's full SSN. Update: 08/13/12:Patient B will be sent a letter offering credit protection services.NOTE: There were a total of # Mis-Handling incidents this reporting period. Because of repetition, the other # are not included in this report, but are included in the "Mis-Handling Incidents" count at the end of this report. In all incidents, Veterans will receive a notification letter and/or credit monitoring will be offered if appropriate.
Outcome:
Pharmacy has retrained all staff to double-check SSN and names prior to releasing any items upon discharge, as there are instances when you may have more than one individual with the same name admitted to the same ward.