$25,000 lawsuit filed after STD diagnosis leaked on "Team No Hoes" Facebook group
Posted by: Jon Ben-Mayor on 06/08/2014 10:52 AM
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A woman in Ohio has filed suit against the University of Cincinnati Medical Center (UCMC) after two employees posted her medical records pertaining to a syphilis diagnosis on a Facebook group called "Team No Hoes." The incident took place back in 2013.
According to the Daily Mail, Raphael Bradley, the father of her unborn child, pressured the woman to say why she was seeking medical treatment, but she didn't say why, the suit says. Bradley then told her he would ask UCMC employee Ryan Rawls, the mother of his other child, for the information.
Rawls and a second UCMC employee posted the woman's medical information to Facebook, the suit says. The second woman's name has not yet been released.
Her attorney, Mike Allen, told WCPO she has been cyberbullied since her medical information was shared online. She is seeking over $25,000 in damages.
President and CEO of UCMC, Lee Ann Liska, made the following statement regarding the leak; UC Health became aware of this incident shortly after the screenshot of this patient’s billing record appeared on Facebook, when she brought it to our attention. We took swift action and our investigation revealed that the record had been accessed by a Financial Services employee who did not have a business reason to do so. This employee had been fully trained and acknowledged her responsibilities under law and UC Health policy, but apparently accessed the billing record through a personal motivation. The individual’s employment was terminated, and we reported the incident to federal authorities. This occurred within days of the patient making us aware of this occurrence. UC Health also investigated the concerns expressed in the lawsuit regarding other UCMC employees; however, no other employee was determined to have inappropriately accessed the record, nor would the assistance of any other employee have been required to acquire and distribute the screenshot in question. We made Mr. Allen aware of these findings, but he chose to include the allegations in the Complaint that was recently filed.
We are outraged that anyone might misuse a position with UC Health to attempt to embarrass or cause harm to another person. This is contrary to our ethic and the training we provide to our associates, and we took immediate action as a result. The allegations in the recent lawsuit are isolated to the people named in the lawsuit, and by no means reflect the conduct of UC Medical Center associates, who are dedicated to serving thousands of patients annually and safeguarding the personal health information that has been entrusted to them. All associates have been reminded that the unauthorized access or viewing of medical records, or the unauthorized sharing of PHI, is a betrayal of that trust, and cause for immediate termination.
According to the Daily Mail, Raphael Bradley, the father of her unborn child, pressured the woman to say why she was seeking medical treatment, but she didn't say why, the suit says. Bradley then told her he would ask UCMC employee Ryan Rawls, the mother of his other child, for the information.Rawls and a second UCMC employee posted the woman's medical information to Facebook, the suit says. The second woman's name has not yet been released.
Her attorney, Mike Allen, told WCPO she has been cyberbullied since her medical information was shared online. She is seeking over $25,000 in damages.
President and CEO of UCMC, Lee Ann Liska, made the following statement regarding the leak; UC Health became aware of this incident shortly after the screenshot of this patient’s billing record appeared on Facebook, when she brought it to our attention. We took swift action and our investigation revealed that the record had been accessed by a Financial Services employee who did not have a business reason to do so. This employee had been fully trained and acknowledged her responsibilities under law and UC Health policy, but apparently accessed the billing record through a personal motivation. The individual’s employment was terminated, and we reported the incident to federal authorities. This occurred within days of the patient making us aware of this occurrence. UC Health also investigated the concerns expressed in the lawsuit regarding other UCMC employees; however, no other employee was determined to have inappropriately accessed the record, nor would the assistance of any other employee have been required to acquire and distribute the screenshot in question. We made Mr. Allen aware of these findings, but he chose to include the allegations in the Complaint that was recently filed.
We are outraged that anyone might misuse a position with UC Health to attempt to embarrass or cause harm to another person. This is contrary to our ethic and the training we provide to our associates, and we took immediate action as a result. The allegations in the recent lawsuit are isolated to the people named in the lawsuit, and by no means reflect the conduct of UC Medical Center associates, who are dedicated to serving thousands of patients annually and safeguarding the personal health information that has been entrusted to them. All associates have been reminded that the unauthorized access or viewing of medical records, or the unauthorized sharing of PHI, is a betrayal of that trust, and cause for immediate termination.
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