A federal judge has dismissed a class-action lawsuit filed by patients over a data breach at a four-location radiology practice and its countrywide parent company, Radiology Business reports.
The plaintiffs alleged that a 2019-2020 hack of a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) operated by Mount Kisco, N.Y.-based Northeast Radiology, which is corporately managed by 47-state Alliance HealthCare Services (now part of Akumin), had burdened them with an “ongoing imminent risk” of identity theft and fraud.
The claims included negligence, breach of contract, violation of a New York General Business Law section and “intrusion upon seclusion.” The patients added that, unlike credit-card theft, this type of privacy infringement gives the victimized no sure way to halt the dissemination of stolen personal information.
The PACS housed more than 1.2 million patient records, although the hack seems to have exposed those from only 29 patients. Read more.
