MD Anderson Cancer Center Fined $4.3 M For Data Breach

An administrative judge fined The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center $4.3 million Monday. The fine is for violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Judge Steven Kessel with U.S. Health and Human Services fined the Houston cancer center for losing more than 33,000 patients health records in 2012 and 2013. At $4.3 million, it is the fourth largest penalty awarded to the HSS Office of Civil Rights.

In 2012, a laptop with 30,000 records was stolen from an employee’s home. That same year, a researcher at MD Anderson lost a USB drive containing patient records while on a shuttle bus. A similar scene played out with another USB drive lost the following year.

Records included medical ailments and often Social Security numbers.

Read more: http://tpr.org/post/md-anderson-cancer-center-fined-43-m-data-breach